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SELECT 




ILLUSTRATED TOPOGRAPHY 


OF 


THIRTY MILES ROUND LONDON; 


COMPRISING 


VIEWS OF VARIOUS PLACES WITHIN THIS CIRCUIT, 


ENGRAVED BY 

W. FLOYD, c. BENTLEY, C. MOTTRAM, J. C. VARRALL, 
AND W. AND J. HENSHALL, 

AFTER ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF 

CHARLES MARSHALL, J. W. ALLEN, G. B. CAMPION, 

AND OTHER ARTISTS ; 


TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTICES OF EACH PLACE. 


BY 

WILLIAM EDWARD TROTTER. 

If 7 *; 


THIRTY-FOUR VIEWS AND A MAP OF THE DISTRICT. 


LONDON: 

THE PROPRIETOR, 1 CLOUDESLEY TERRACE, ISLINGTON; 

SIMFKIN, MARSHALL AND CO., STATIONERS’ COURT ; C. TILT, FLEET STREET J 
ACKERMANN AND CO., STRAND J AND G. VIRTUE, IVY LANE. 


1839 . 






PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR 
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 


library] 

|OF Congress 


THE EDITOR’S PREFACE. 


Having now collected sufficient matter to form the first 
volume of the illustrated topography, I rest awhile 
from my labours, anxiously awaiting the decision of that 
tribunal which has ever been found ready to accord indul¬ 
gence to the efforts of those who earnestly seek to dis¬ 
seminate entertainment and instruction through the me¬ 
dium of truth. 

That the present undertaking requires such indulgence 
I too well know. The narrow limit to which the nature 
of the work now offered to the public has necessarily 
confined each description, has compelled me to dwell per¬ 
haps too slightly upon many subjects deserving a more 
elaborate investigation ; and when I add that my personal 
observations have been made during intervals of recreation 
from other duties, it will be obvious that a number of 
interesting details must have escaped notice. But as my 
object has been rather to sketch such an outline as might 
readily be filled in by the reader, than to present a finished 
picture, let me hope that the effort will not be too critically 
scanned. 

While I thus, however, candidly avow self-conviction 



IV 


THE EDITORS PREFACE. 


of my demerits on the score of omission, I must claim 
credence in conscientiously asserting that no labour 
has been shunned—no research foregone, to stamp the in¬ 
formation here given with the impress of accuracy. Each 
locality treated of has been visited;—its past history 
gathered from the best accessible authorities ;—and a 
knowledge of its present state obtained from verbal com¬ 
munications with intelligent residents. To many of these 
I am deeply indebted, and trust that as the circle is too 
extensive to individualize, they will receive this general 
acknowledgement as an earnest of my grateful sense of the 
obligation. At the same time I beg permission equally 
to tender my thanks to several gentlemen connected with 
the public offices, for the courteous readiness with which 
they have met my inquiries. 

I now commit the work, “ with all its imperfections on 
its head,” to the forbearance of the Public, confident that 
it will furnish more excuses for any slight inaccuracies 
that may appear than I dare venture to urge. 

Kennington, September, 1838. 


#*# The circumstance of this volume having been issued in parts, com¬ 
mencing in April, 1837, will account for the several discrepancies in titles 
and other details which appear throughout the earlier pages, and the in¬ 
convenience of which the author has endeavoured to obviate in this edition 
by errata. 


INTRODUCTION. 


To point out to the inhabitants of this crowded metropolis a few 
of the innumerable subjects of interest and natural beauty by 
which they are surrounded; to supply at one view the leading 
events in the past history, and details of the present state, of 
these several localities; to induce a more general taste for anti¬ 
quarian, historical, and topographical inquiry;—these are some 
of the leading objects of the present work. 

Every individual is innately an admirer of nature ; and hence 
we find those whose pursuits throw them among the busy haunts 
of man, eagerly seeking, at every opportunity, that relief which 
open fields and the free unfettered air afford. It too frequently 
happens, however, that much important time is lost from the 
absence of a ready guide on whom we may rely ; and such a deside¬ 
ratum it is here attempted to furnish. The illustrations com¬ 
prise a series of attractive places as they actually exist within 
the circuit of a pleasant ride—indeed we may say walk—from 
London ; and the descriptions embrace information, derived 
from authentic sources aided by personal observation, upon every 
local point that is likely to prove either useful or interesting to 
the resident, the tourist, or the general reader. 

To follow in the steps of such leaders as Lysons and Brayley, 
may be deemed presumption on our part; but we would remind 
the reader that “ time, which changes all things,” does not ex¬ 
onerate even Nature from mutability; and more particularly in 



VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


cases where Art has joined her train. The long period that 
has elapsed since either of the above writers gave his labours to 
the world, has produced many alterations in the localities de¬ 
scribed ; independently of which an ample field has been left to 
gleaners—and no higher name than this we boast. 

With regard to the pictorial portion of our labours, it may be 
observed that the very terms Antiquity, History, and Topogra¬ 
phy—subjects inseparably blended—associate themselves in the 
mind of almost every reader with dry and uninteresting detail. 
But in the words of an author already alluded to, “ graphic illus¬ 
tration has a charm for all; and many who have at first been 
attracted by that alone, have insensibly acquired a relish for in¬ 
vestigating the subjects thus introduced to them.” Now, without 
at all discussing the advantages of such investigations—which are 
many—it will be sufficient to say that we shall endeavour to aid 
our coadjutor, the artist, by conveying the information given in 
the most agreeable form our pen can dictate. 

The preceding vignette may be taken as somewhat allegorical 
of our task. It displays a view of London from a gallery near 
the summit of the shot-manufactory in Belvidere-road, which 
tower, with a little poetical licence, may be deemed the centre 
around which we draw our magic circle. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Windsor-castle. 1 

Epsom. 9 

Abbey-church of Saint Albans. 15 

Greenwich-hospital. 20 

Tottenham-mills . 26 

Barking. 27 

Town of Saint Albans. 30 

Woolwich. 35 

Broxbourn. 44 

Hampton .. 46 

Hampton-court. 49 

Rochester. 62 

Vauxhall-gardens. 80 

Hornsey. 84 

Highgate . 89 

Leatherhead. 98 

Dorking. 102 

Hall of Mirrors. 107 

View from Chelsea-fields. 108 

View from the York-column .. 110 

Richmond. Ill 

Twickenham. 119 

Sunbury. 127 

Walton-on-Thames. 131 

Sheperton. 137 

Staines... 139 

Chalk-farm-bridge . 146 

Ingatestone . 147 

Gravesend. 149 


Distance 
from G. P. O. 

25 

16 

21 


H 

21 

H 

16f 

16 

15 

30 

6 

20 

24i 


11 

13 

18 

21 

20 

19 


24 

23 


U>|M K>|W 






























































ERRATA. 


Windsor Castle, pp. 1—9. Throughout the article substitute “the Sovereign ’ 
for “his Majesty” and “their Majesties.” 
p. 7, line 9, for “ with its subordinate offices, constitutes the middle ward and 
is ” read “ which, with its subordinate offices, constitute the middle ward, 
is.” 

p. 8, last line, for “is ” read “ are.” 

Epsom, p. 12, last paragraph. The day of the Derby was last year altered ; and 
a spring meeting was established. 

Saint Alban’s abbey, p. 18, line 19, for “ horse; while his ” read “ horse : his. ’ 
p. 19, line 10, for “N.” read “ N.W. by N.” 

Greenwich Hospital, pp. 21, 22. Marines are entitled to share the privileges of 
the institution. The deduction of sixpence per month from the wages of 
seamen and mariners toward the support of the hospital has been substituted 
by a grant of £20,000 annually from the Consolidated Fund; and the 
amount raised by a per centage on the freight of all vessels entering the 
pool, and the unclaimed shares of prize and bounty money, has been super¬ 
seded by a certain per centage upon any treasure* or^specie conveyed by 
royal vessels from one port to another. 

T ottenham-mills, p. 26, line 9, for “our sixth illustration ” read “ the annexed 
engraving; ” and same page, last line, for “ This house will ” &c., read 
“ This house is shown in the second of the accompanying illustrations.” 

Barking, p. 27, line 21, for “ entrenchment ” read “ intrenchment.” 

Town of Saint Albans, p. 32, line 28, for “present reign ” read “ last reign.” 
p. 34, line 1,/or “ our tenth illustration ” read “ one of our illustrations.” 

Woolwich, p. 37, line 6, for “ embosoms ” read “ imbosoms.” 


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WINDSOR CASTLE. 


Eminently favoured by natural attractions, by historical asso¬ 
ciations, and by the circumstance of having been honoured with 
the residence of our monarchs from the period of the Conquest, 
Windsor will ever awaken an interest of the highest order in the 
breasts of Englishmen; and therefore we need offer no apology 
for having made it the first subject in this work. 

The history of the castle and that of the town are so inti¬ 
mately blended, that it will be perhaps a difficult task to treat 
them separately; but as it is our intention to give future illus¬ 
trations of this interesting spot, our present remarks will be con¬ 
fined to the castle, which the accompanying plate represents as 
viewed from Clewer-lane. 

This magnificent and truly regal palace occupies a commanding 
position on the summit of a bold brow rising abruptly from the 
Thames, at a distance of about twenty-two miles W. by S. from 
London, and about two miles S. of the Bath road. The earliest 
mention of the place occurs in a grant made by Edward the Con¬ 
fessor, wherein he bestows “ Wyndleshora, with all its appur¬ 
tenances,” to the monastery of Saint Peter, Westminster. The 
Conqueror, however, who, in the words of the old Saxon chro¬ 
nicler, “ loved the tall deer as if he were their father,” too readily 
appreciated the applicability of the situation to the purposes of 
his favourite amusement, to allow the monks to retain possession; 
and consequently we soon find him erecting here a castle, and sur¬ 
rounding it with an extensive forest. Henry Beauclerc first gave a 
palatial character to this castle, which was materially strengthened 
and augmented by subsequent monarchs; but to the third Edward, 
whose place of nativity it was, must be ascribed the foundation of 
the present magnificent structure. This prince, in 1359, com¬ 
menced the removal of the entire ancient fabric, with the excep- 


9 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


tion of three towers still existing in the western wall, and substi¬ 
tuted the chief portion of the noble edifice now standing. These 
works were executed under the control of William de Wyckham 
bishop of Winchester, whom Edward had appointed superinten¬ 
dent or clerk of the works, and after whom the elevated tower 
fronting the keep is named. 

Camden relates the following amusing anecdote of this officer. 
When the new palace was nearly completed he inscribed upon 
the wall, “This made Wyckham.” The circumstance was invi¬ 
diously conveyed to the king by a rival of the reverend architect; 
but Wyckham ingeniously shielded himself from royal displeasure 
in the peculiar ambiguity of the expression. 

One of the most characteristic events connected with Windsor 
in the chivalrous reign of Edward, was the institution of the most 
noble Order of Garter. Various are the conjectures respecting 
the origin of this exalted order of knighthood. Barnes, in his 
History of Edward the third, derives it from the Phoenicians, 
whose mariners were accustomed to bind a blue or purple fillet 
round their bodies as an amulet against shipwreck. Rastell de¬ 
duces its rise from an act of Richard Coeur de Lion, who, after 
the siege of Aeon, encircled the legs of his bravest warriors with 
a leathern strap as a meritorious badge ; while a third class attri¬ 
bute it to the circumstance of Edward giving the term Garter 
as a watchword on the field of Crecy. But the most popular 
version, and one whose general acceptance may be traced to the 
happy appropriateness of the conceit to the gallant spirit of 
that age, is the following, recorded by the fanciful Polydore 
Virgil:—Joan countess of Salisbury attended a ball held at the 
court of Edward the third, and while dancing her garter fell to 
the ground. The king immediately picked it up; and observing 
some of his courtiers smile at the incident, exclaimed, in the 
words of the motto belonging to the order, “ Honi soit qui mal 
y <pense”\ adding, “in a short time you shall see this garter 
advanced to so high honour as to account yourselves happy to 
wear it.” The opinion, however, of the most intelligent writers on 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


3 


the subject is, that Edward, in furthering his claim to the crown 
of France, became impressed with the necessity of inspiring his 
nobles and followers with a high spirit of martial enterprise ; and 
in this hope, and also with a view of uniting his best warriors in 
a bond of brotherhood, founded, as a substitute for the ancient 
institution of the Round Table of Arthur, that of the Garter. The 
device which gave this appellation to the order probably suggested 
itself as being an emblem of fidelity, and the motto is equally ap¬ 
propriate to a society formed on terms of mutual confidence. The 
number of individuals who originally received this badge of di¬ 
stinction was twenty-six, and this continued to be the extent of 
the confraternity until the year 1786, when the order was enlarged 
in consequence of the numerous progeny of George the third. 
The first ceremony took place in the year 1349, on the anniver¬ 
sary of the patron saint of England, when Edward and his twenty- 
five gallant companions were solemnly installed, in the presence of 
a brilliant assemblage, by William de Wyckham, whom the sove¬ 
reign had constituted prelate to the order, an honour which has 
ever since attached to the see of Winchester. 

This society can boast of having enrolled among its members 
many of the most illustrious names in the page of history : an 
admission, therefore, to such companionship may well be deemed 
an honour of the highest character. 

During the period which elapsed between the accession of the 
house of Lancaster and the union of the two crowns of England 
and Scotland, the castle underwent various improvements; and 
in the year 1648 it became the prison of the unfortunate Charles, 
who, in the words of the chronicler Heath, kept his sorrowful and 
last Christmas at Windsor. 

After the Restoration, Charles the second completely repaired 
the injuries the fortress had sustained during the republican war; 
embellished and richly furnished the interior; and made it his chief 
place of residence. Between this reign and that of George the 
third, Windsor appears to have been nearly deserted by the court. 

The latter monarch, however, made the castle his almost constant 


4 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


abode; and the alterations which took place under the super¬ 
intendence of James Wyatt, Esq., surveyor-general to this king, 
far exceeded those in any preceding reign since the time of Ed¬ 
ward the third. They embraced the erection of a new grand 
hall and staircase; the adaptation of a suite of rooms to the pur¬ 
poses of study; and such an arrangement of the apartments gene¬ 
rally as should supply the comforts of a modern residence. Many 
incongruous features in the external architecture were remedied, 
particularly that of the circular-headed windows introduced by 
Charles the second, which were now restored to the pointed 
style of Edward the third. 

Notwithstanding the vast extent of these improvements, George 
the fourth, on his accession to the throne, found ample scope for 
still greater additions and embellishments; and to the refined taste 
of that monarch, aided by the talents of Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, 
this home of England’s kings owes its existing character of beauty 
and grandeur. 

The castle, as it now is, occupies an area exceeding twelve acres 
in extent, and is arranged into the upper, middle, and lower wards. 
The upper ward is a spacious quadrangle, formed by the state 
apartments, Saint George’s hall and guard-chamber, and the 
Waterloo gallery, on the north; by Their Majesties’ private apart¬ 
ments on the east; by apartments appropriated to the use of the 
royal household and to visitors on the south; and by the keep on 
the west. The principal approach to this ward is from the Home- 
park on the south, through George the fourth’s gate, which con¬ 
sists of a noble archway, twenty-four feet in height, supporting a 
double range of attendants’ rooms, and flanked by two massive 
and lofty square towers bearing the respective appellations of 
Lancaster and York, the whole being crowned with projecting 
machicolated battlements resting on corbels. 

Immediately facing the interior front of this gateway is the grand 
entrance to the state apartments. The approach is by a lofty 
groined hall of sufficient amplitude to admit carriages, formed by 
the arched basement of a square embattled tower, and leading to 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


5 


a superb vestibule above, the walls of which are decorated with 
several beautiful niches richly canopied, and some exquisite ti'acery. 
This vestibule, which contains a fine marble statue of George the 
fourth, by Chantrey, communicates immediately with the state 
apartments, consisting of the queen’s ball-room, drawing-room, 
closet, presence-chamber, and audience-chamber; the king’s 
council-chamber, drawing-room, and closet; the throne-room, 
ante-chamber, and grand ball-room. A splendid collection of pic¬ 
tures, ancient and modern, is distributed throughout these rooms, 
and the ceilings also display some beautiful allegorical painting by 
Verrio. The tapestry and some exquisite carving by Gibbons 
will amply repay a close inspection. The interior arrangement is 
in a style of grandeur according well with the purposes to which 
the apartments are appropriated. 

The grand ball-room, one of the latest additions to the castle, 
is a rich specimen of the gay and luxuriant style of Louis Qua- 
torze. The floor is of oak inlaid with ebony fleurs-de-lis; the 
walls are paneled, and hung with a superb tapestry representing 
the history of Jason and the fleece ; and the ceiling, together with 
the mouldings of the walls, is enriched with beautiful and elabo¬ 
rate carving. The window occupies almost the entire north end 
of the room, and is necessarily gothic, to correspond exteriorly 
with the other portions of the castle. Elegant folding-doors open 
to the throne-room, the Waterloo gallery, and Saint George’s hall, 
the latter of which has been much enlarged by throwing into it 
the royal chapel. The original painted ceiling has been replaced 
by a magnificent gothic roof springing from emblazoned corbels. 
The hall is lighted by thirteen windows in the south wall; and 
opposite to these are recesses containing full-length portraits of 
the sovereigns of England since James the first. The east and 
west walls are occupied by music-galleries; and in front of that 
on the east stands the throne, the ascent to which is by oak steps. 
This chamber is appropriated to the banquets of the Knights of 
the Garter. A door under the western gallery opens into the new 
guard-chamber, which contains an extensive collection of ancient 


6 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


armour, among which the celebrated silver shield inlaid with gold, 
presented by Francis of France to Henry the eighth, on the field 
of Cloth of Gold, occupies a distinguished position. At the south 
end, upon a pedestal made from the mast of the Victory, is a 
bronze bust of Nelson, supported by busts of Marlborough and 
Wellington, above which the tributary banners annually received 
from Blenheim and Strathfieldsaye form a characteristic canopy. 

The Waterloo gallery, another recent building, is intended as 
a museum for the trophies obtained on the field of Waterloo, to¬ 
gether with the portraits of eminent men connected with that 
battle, or in the negotiation of the peace which followed. It is a 
magnificent chamber, in the Elizabethan style of architecture, and 
receives light from a lantern extending the entire length of the 
ceiling. The range of buildings described above is the only portion 
of this ward accessible to strangers. A gateway in the north-east 
angle, flanked by two octagonal towers, and leading to the do¬ 
mestic offices, terminates the north side of the quadrangle; the 
appearance of which has been greatly improved during the late 
alterations, by giving additional height to the buildings, and form¬ 
ing the roofs into battlements. Near this gateway is a small square 
tower, communicating with a light, elegant, upper vestibule, in 
which visitors to His Majesty on any occasion of ceremony are re¬ 
ceived. 

Their Majesties’ private entrance, in the south-west angle of the 
ward, is by an embattled portico, supporting the royal arms in 
basso-relievo, and flanked on each side by a small turret; the 
whole being elaborately sculptured. Within the portico a beau¬ 
tifully designed staircase, above which rises an elegant oblong 
lantern, leads to a corridor, communicating on the east with the 
royal private apartments, and on the south with those of the vi¬ 
sitors and household. This gallery is five hundred and twenty feet 
in length, and forms a covered promenade extending round the 
east and south sides of the quadrangle. The ceiling is paneled 
in square compartments, and embellished with variously designed 
patoras in burnished gold. 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


7 


The royal apartments comprise a dining-room, two drawing¬ 
rooms, and a library, with subordinate chambers. These are il¬ 
lumined from exquisitely enriched oriel windows which command 
a fine view of the Home-park; and immediately in front is a beau¬ 
tifully arranged parterre, decorated with a fountain of truly clas¬ 
sical construction, and bounded by a pentagonal rampart wall 
with bastions. The interior of this suite of apartments bears 
the impress of the most chaste and refined elegance. 

The round tower or keep, witli its subordinate offices, consti¬ 
tutes the middle ward, and is the official residence of the governor 
of the castle. It occupies a commanding position on the summit 
of an artificial mount, the ascent to which is by a covered way of 
one hundred steps, protected by a large piece of ordnance in¬ 
serted in the wall. At the top of this a strong portcullised gate¬ 
way leads into the main building, and side posterns open upon a 
curtain embrased for seventeen pieces of cannon. In 1829 the 
keep was raised thirty-two feet above its original elevation, since 
which it has borne the new appellation of Saint George’s tower. 
It is now a handsome circular building, crowned with projecting 
machicolated battlements resting on massive corbels, and sur¬ 
mounted by a flag-turret twenty-five feet high, on which the 
royal standard is unfurled whenever Their Majesties are at the 
castle: the display of the union-jack indicates the presence of 
the governor only. The interior consists of a range of apart¬ 
ments, within whose walls two monarchs, in the persons of John 
of France and David of Scotland, jointly shared the miseries of 
captivity ; and here the English Petrarch poured forth one of his 
most plaintive effusions, during a rigorous confinement imposed 
on him for eating flesh in Lent. From the summit of the keep the 
eye stretches over a truly magnificent panoramic view, in the fore¬ 
ground of which the towns of Windsor and Eton seem to point 
proudly to the security afforded by their noble castle. 

The lower ward is bounded by the residences of the Knights 
of Windsor, and those of the members of the collegiate esta¬ 
blishment of Saint George’s church, which is the chief object of 

c 


8 


WINDSOR CASTLE. 


attraction, and occupies the centre of the ward. The establish¬ 
ment consists of a dean, canons, minor canons, choristers, 
steward, treasurer, and other officers. The chapel is considered 
one of the finest specimens of the perpendicular style of architec¬ 
ture in the kingdom. It is a cruciform structure, supported by 
buttresses terminating in square embattled turrets, the transepts 
being formed by the projection of two octagonal sepulchral cha¬ 
pels. Several of these, on a smaller scale, range along the aisles, 
from which they are separated interiorly by elegant screens: one 
of them contains the cenotaph erected to the memory of the uni¬ 
versally-lamented princess Charlotte. The internal arrangements 
of the chapel are superb, and in strict accordance with the purest 
character of the style. It is embellished with several fine mo¬ 
numents and some exquisitely stained windows ; and over the 
altar is a painting of the Resurrection by West. The richly or¬ 
namented stalls of the Sovereign and Knights-companion of the 
Garter are ranged on each side and at the western end of the 
choir, in which the ceremony of installation takes place. To the 
east of the chancel is annexed a chapel commenced by Henry the 
eighth, and afterwards continued by cardinal Wolsey, as a place 
of sepulture. The substructure of this now forms the royal 
dormitory; and the chapel has been converted into a chapter- 
house. 

Leaving this ward for the town we pass through Henry the 
eighth’s gateway, consisting of an arch surmounted by a guard- 
room (in front of which the royal arms are sculptured) crowned 
with machicolated battlements, and flanked by two lofty, mas¬ 
sive, octagonal towers, one of which forms the castle prison. 
Near this, in the south-west angle of the wall, is the Chancellor 
of the Garter’s tower, forming, together with two others facing 
the west, and designated respectively Garter’s and Julius Cassar’s 
towers, that portion of the original castle to which we have pre¬ 
viously alluded. Proceeding by the outer wall of the cloisters, 
we reach Winchester tower, where the north terrace commences. 
On this is situated the Powder tower, the old and new Blenheim 







. ' • 




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EPSOM. 


9 


towers, Wyatville tower, and Brunswick tower, the latter of which 
contains an apparatus for heating the orangery. Along the east 
terrace are ranged Black Prince’s, Chester, Clarence, and King’s 
towers; of which the latter brings us round to the south terrace, 
terminating at George the fourth’s gateway, already described. 

Having now made a hasty tour of the castle, we relinquish our 
pen, with a promise to continue our description to the town and 
forest at a future opportunity. 


EPSOM. 

To venture upon a description of Epsom may probably appear 
a work of supererogation; for who among the world of London 
belles and beaux has not made the annual excursion to its races, 
or, having neglected to pay this essential tribute to fashion, would 
dare avow his ignorance of the place ? But as we assuredly ex¬ 
pect to have the honour of an entree to drawing-rooms and bou¬ 
doirs far distant from the metropolis, we may be pardoned for 
having devoted a portion of this our first number to the amuse¬ 
ment, and we hope instruction, of our provincial friends. 

Epsom, then, is a handsome, brick-built, populous village, in 
the eastern district of the hundred of Copthorne, western division 
of the county of Surrey, and distant fourteen miles and a half S.W. 
by S. from Westminster-bridge, on the turnpike road to Leather- 
head, Dorking, Worthing, &c. It is delightfully situated on a 
gentle declivity at the western verge of Banstead-downs, whence 
the eye stretches over a magnificent prospect, embracing London, 
the two royal palaces of Windsor and Hampton-court, several 
considerable towns, and an infinite number of country seats; while 
in the foreground lies Epsom, picturesquely imbowered in the lux¬ 
uriant foliage of several beautiful plantations. The spot it occu¬ 
pies was formerly designated Flower-dale, in consequence of its 
mild salubrious air. 



10 


EPSOM. 


Tradition derives the name from the Saxon compound Ebbs- 
hame, signifying the home or place of Ebba, who, according to 
Camden, was the daughter of Ethelfred, and was canonized for 
her sanctity. In Doomsday-book the name is written Evesham, 
and in subsequent records Ebbisham, from which latter word 
would readily spring the present appellation of Epsom. Tolond 
fixes the residence of Ebba at Epsom-court, which there can be 
little doubt was an ancient Saxon seat, and, in a less remote pe¬ 
riod, the manor-house of Epsom ; but all traces of its former gran¬ 
deur have disappeared, and it now only ranks as a respectable 
farm-house. 

The parish comprises the ancient manors of Ebbisham, Hor¬ 
ton, and Brettgrave or Bruttegrave, the latter of which has been 
long extinct. The manor of Horton appears formerly to have been 
a distinct parish, containing a populous village of considerable an¬ 
tiquity, with a church or chapel situated on Stamford-green, of 
which no vestige remains. At the period of the Conquest, and 
until the commencement of the sixteenth century, these manors 
belonged to the mitred abbey of Chertsey, which is supposed to 
have been erected prior to the year 666. 

The celebrity of Epsom as a place of fashionable resort origi¬ 
nally emanated from its mineral spring, the knowledge of whose 
medicinal properties is attributed to accident. It is recorded that 
in the arid summer of 1618 a farmer observing a spring on the 
common, formed a reservoir around it for the convenience of his 
cattle, and their refusal to drink led to the discovery that the 
waters were strongly impregnated with alum. The inhabitants 
afterwards used them for cutaneous disorders with success, and 
from this circumstance they soon attained high repute. Salts 
were subsequently prepared from them, and although sold at the 
extravagant price of five shillings an ounce, the demand far ex¬ 
ceeded the quantity that could be produced. 

This spring, now designated the Old Wells, is pleasantly situ¬ 
ated about half a mile to the north-west of the turnpike road 
between Epsom and Ashtead. A shed erected in 1620 by the 


EPSOM. 


11 


lord of the manor for the protection of the sickly visitors, speedily 
gave place to a better structure; and in 1690 Mr. Parkhurst 
erected a handsome ball-room, seventy feet in length, with suit¬ 
able ante-chambers, and planted avenues of elm-trees, extending 
to, and for a considerable distance beyond, the village. These 
trees, which greatly enhanced the beauty of the place, were re¬ 
moved about thirty years ago. Coeval with the above improve¬ 
ments, a considerable increase took place in the village. Lodging- 
houses were erected; taverns, reputed to be the largest in En¬ 
gland, were established; sedan-chairs and public coaches were 
licensed ; and in the early portion of the eighteenth century Ep¬ 
som had become the Spa of England. 

Tolond, who resided at Woodcote-park in the year 1711, gives 
the following beautiful picture of the then state of society in Ep¬ 
som : “I must do our coffee-houses the justice to affirm, that in 
social virtue they are equalled by few and exceeded by none, 
though I wish they may be imitated by all. A tory does not stare 
and leer when a whig comes in, nor a whig look sour and whisper 
at the sight of a tory. These distinctions are laid by with the 
winter suit in London, and a gayer, easier habit worn in the 
country : even foreigners have no reason to complain of being ill 
received in this part of the island. In short, as England is the 
most plentiful country on earth, so no part of it is supplied with 
more variety of the best provisions, both within itself and the ad¬ 
jacent villages, than Epsom.” 

And in describing the place he says, “ the form of our village, 
as seen from the downs, is exactly semicircular, beginning with 
a church and ending with a palace, the Grove making, as it were, 
a beautiful knot in the middle. . . . When you are on the top of 
the downs, ’t is one of the loveliest prospects imaginable, to view 
in the vale below such an agreeable mixture of trees and buildings, 
that a stranger is at a loss to know whether it be a town in a wood, 
or a wood in a town.” 

Shortly after the above period the waters lost their reputation, 
owing to the venality of an apothecary of the name of Livingstone. 

D 


12 


EPSOM. 


This man, who had amassed a considerable property by his prac¬ 
tice in the town, purchased an estate, on which he pretended to 
have discovered another and more efficacious mineral spring than 
that already opened; and having erected a splendid assembly- 
room, pump-room, bowling-green, &c., opened the place under 
the title of the New Wells. In 1715 he obtained an assignment 
of the Old Wells, which he closed; and from that time the town 
was rapidly deserted. This assembly-room, now converted into 
shops, forms the right extremity of our illustration. 

A temporary restoration of the gaieties of Epsom took place 
during the scheming mania of 1720; one of the favourite specu¬ 
lations of the day being to make Epsom a place of country amuse¬ 
ment for the citizens; and for this purpose several large build¬ 
ings were actually erected, and every species of profligate and 
vicious entertainment was introduced and prevailed in the village. 
About the same time the celebrated female bone-setter, Sarah 
Wallin, honoured Epsom with her presence; and this eccentric 
being, who is reported to have rectified many extraordinary cases 
of malformation, was for some time the lion, or, if the reader 
please, lioness of the day: she eventually died in Saint Giles’s in 
such distress as to require a parochial funeral. 

The races of Epsom formed the next object of attraction to 
the place. In what year these were first regularly established 
appears doubtful; but they can be traced periodically from 1730. 
The days of meeting are annually on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs¬ 
day, and Friday immediately preceding Whitsuntide; or a fort¬ 
night later if Easter occur in March. The course is on the downs 
adjoining the town, and is ornamented with a handsome stand. 
The races usually commence about one o’clock, and conclude 
soon after four; and the following is the order in which the 
principal stakes are contested. On the first day the Surrey, the 
Shirley, and a sweepstakes; on the second the Craven, the gold 
cup, and the Woodcote; on the third the Derby, the Durdans, 
and the Denbies; and on the fourth day the Oaks, a plate, and 
the Woodcote-park stakes. The fashionable race is the Derby; 


EPSOM. 


13 


and the favourableness of the season, the gaiety of the equipages, 
the natural beauty of the surrounding scenery, heightened by the 
gay concourse, composed usually of several members of the royal 
family, the nobility and gentry of the district, and the whole rank 
and fashion of the metropolis, the fair sex forming a very consi¬ 
derable component of the aggregate mass, combine to render the 
scene one of the most brilliant and animated that can be con¬ 
ceived. 

The town contains many handsome houses, with several elegant 
shops ; and in an abundant supply of provisions ranks above most 
other places within the same distance from the metropolis. A 
weekly market, chiefly for corn, together with an ancient annual 
cattle fair, both of which had fallen into disuse, were renewed in 
1833. The market, which was originally chartered by James the 
second, is now held every Wednesday; and the fair takes place 
on the twenty-fifth of July at a place called Clay-hill. 

A branch of the West Surrey bank has been recently established 
here; and gas-works and a mechanics’institute are in progress. 
The old clock-house and pond, which appear in the centre of our 
illustration, are situated about the middle of the town. The chief 
inns are the Coffee-house and the Spread Eagle, in the former of 
which the petty sessions are held. Letters are forwarded by a 
mail-cart to Kingston, where they join the Portsmouth mail. The 
delivery is at eight a.m.; and the post-office closes at ten p. m. 
Epsom has one regular morning coach; and several others from 
Worthing, Horsham, and Dorking pass through the town during 
the day. Some excellent private schools are established here; 
and at the entrance from London is a national subscription school, 
in which between seventy and eighty boys, and an equal number 
of girls, are instructed on the Madras system in all the useful 
branches of education. 

The church, which is dedicated to Saint Martin, and the 
first stone of which was laid on the nineteenth of May 182o, 
stands at the southern extremity of Church-street. The old build¬ 
ing, which was insufficient for the accommodation of the increased 

d 2 


14 


EPSOM. 


population of the place, as well as being in a ruinous state, was 
taken down, with the exception of the north-west tower, and on the 
site was raised the present edifice, which is a neat structure in the 
early English style of architecture, the leading features of the old 
building having been carefully preserved. The new portion con¬ 
sists of a nave, a chancel, and side aisles, attached to the original 
tower, which is square, and surmounted by a light elegant spire 
terminating in a cross and vane. This tower is built upon arches, 
forming the approach to the north aisle, and beneath it stands 
the old font. The angle formed by the east end of the south 
aisle, and the south side of the chancel, is occupied by the vestry. 
The building is of brick, strengthened with stone quoins, but¬ 
tresses, and plinth, and faced with flints. The buttresses at the 
west front are continued above the cornice, being surmounted by 
octangular pinnacles terminating in finials. The interior presents 
a very elegant arrangement. The altar window is of stained glass, 
in three compartments; the centre one representing our Saviour 
after Leonardo da Yinci; while that to the north displays the 
royal arms, and that to the south the arms of the late bishop 
Tomline encircled by the garter, of which order he was prelate in 
right of his see. 

The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Surrey and the 

diocese of Winchester. The patronage belongs to --Speer, 

Esq., and the great tithes to the present incumbent, as lay impro¬ 
priator. The vicarage house, also situated in Church-street, is an 
antique edifice, almost hidden from view by some fine trees. 

The parish of Epsom is 3970 English statute acres in extent; 
and contains 542 houses, which are tenanted by 624 families, 
amounting to a population of 3231. It forms the head of a union 
comprising the fifteen parishes of Epsom, Ashtead, Banstead, the 
two Bookhams, Carshalton, Cheam, Cuddington, Chessington, 
Cobham, Ewell, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Stoke d’Abernon, and 
Sutton. The union-house is now in the course of erection at the 
south entrance of the town, on the site of the old poor-house. 

Epsom and its neighbourhood can boast of having been the fa- 



• V ' 






•* 


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W. Hen.Gk.all 































































































ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS. 


15 


voured retreat of many eminent characters ; and close to the town 
is the old palace—or rather its substitute in the form of a hand¬ 
some and spacious mansion on the same site—of Durdans, said 
to have been erected by lord Berkeley out of the ruins of Eliza¬ 
beth’s palace of Nonsuch, and which is made the scene of some 
gay doings of the “ merry monarch” in Leigh Hunt’s Sir Ralph 
Esher. Sir Ralph’s introduction to the afterwards celebrated 
Nell Gwynn also took place at Epsom. Connected with this and 
other mansions in the locality are many interesting historical 
events, a few of which we must endeavour to weave into a garland 
for a future birth-day or wedding-day present to some of our fair 
readers. 


ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS. 

In the earlier stages of society, ere the cloud of superstition had 
been dispelled by the sunlight of truth, and when oral tradition 
was the almost sole vehicle of information, it is not surprising that 
every object of historical interest should have been invested with 
the veil of romance. Of this mixture of fiction with fact, the 
abbey of Saint Albans is an instance. The legend of its origin is, 
that Offa, the powerful Mercian prince, prompted by compunc¬ 
tion for his treachery toward Ethelbert, king of East Anglia, who 
was basely murdered while at the court of Mercia, whither he had 
been invited under the plea of forming an alliance with OfFa’s 
daughter, resolved to follow the example of some of his crowned 
predecessors, by erecting a Christian temple; and being at a loss 
for a saint to whom he might dedicate the edifice, he was kindly 
relieved from perplexity by the vision of an angel directing him to 
exhume the body of Saint Albans, and place it in a suitable shrine. 
The king accordingly assembled his clergy and court at the an¬ 
cient city of Verulam, where the object of their search had suffered 
martyrdom. A celestial ray is said to have guided them to the 



16 


ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS. 


precise place of sepulture. Amid religious solemnities the bones 
of the proto-martyr, after a lapse of five hundred years from 
the period of their interment, were once more brought before the 
light of day, and, after the king had placed upon the skull a circlet 
of gold inscribed with the name and title of the deceased, tem¬ 
porarily deposited in a small chapel without the walls of the city. 
The subject of this act of veneration was an eminent citizen of 
Verulam, named Albanus, who had been converted to Christianity 
by Amphibolus. Having boldly refused to abjure the new faith, 
he was the first to suffer under the Dioclesian persecution, and is 
hence styled the proto-martyr of Britain. It is recorded that the 
divine displeasure was openly manifested at his death by the exe- 
cutioner being deprived of sight as the axe descended upon the 
neck of his victim. 

Offa now made a journey tp Rome in order to obtain the sanc¬ 
tion of the pope to his purposed foundation; and this being, as a 
matter of course, readily accorded, a magnificent monastery was 
erected at Holmhurst, the hill on which Albanus is supposed to 
have been decapitated. 

From the following passage in Camden, however, it^would ap¬ 
pear that a previous edifice had been raised and'consecrated to 
the memory of Saint Albans. After stating, on the authority of 
an old agonal, that the citizens of Verulam, who yet tenaciously 
adhered to paganism, caused the sufferings of the saint to be por¬ 
trayed on a marble tablet, which they fixed in their walls, as a 
warning to all who should embrace the new doctrines, he proceeds: 
“ but when the blood of martyrs had overcome the cruelty of ty¬ 
rants, the Christians built a church to his memory, which, as Bede 
tells us, was a piece of most admirable workmanship.” 

When the abbey founded by Offa was completed, the remains 
of the saint were re-interred with great ceremony in the centre of 
the presbytery beneath a marble slab bearing an inscription to the 
following effect: “ Here lyeth interred the body of Saint Albans, 
a citizen of old Verulam, of whom this town took denomination, 
and from the ruins of which city this town did arise: he was the 


ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS. 17 

first martyr of England, and suffered the 17 day of June, in the 
year of Man’s Redemption 293 .” 

Willigod, a relative of the king, was installed as the first supe¬ 
rior of this establishment, which consisted of a hundred monks 
selected chiefly from the monastery of Bee, in Normandy; and 
who here united themselves under the vows of Benedict. 

Offa richly endowed the monastery, freed it from the payment 
of all imposts, and, from time to time, obtained for and granted it 
-majay immunities. Among these was an exemption from the pay¬ 
ment of the pope’s tribute, called Rome-scot, or Peter-pence; a 
privilege so peculiar, that, according to a quotation in Camden, 
“ neither the king, nor the archbishop, nor any bishop, abbot, or 
prior, or any other person whatsoever in the whole kingdom, but 
this abbey alone, was exempted from.” So early as the year 795, 
the abbots exercised both a spiritual and secular jurisdiction, 
having been invested with palatinate power similar to that enjoyed 
until recently by the sees of Durham and Ely. Notwithstanding 
the vast benefits thus conferred upon them, we learn from Mat¬ 
thew Paris, the historian, who was a member of this fraternity in 
1259, that the ungrateful monks permitted the body of their 
founder to remain in a small chapel on the banks of the Ouse, 
near Bedford, until it was carried away by the floods. 

Previous to the year 1000, Eadmer, who then occupied the 
pastoral chair, had commenced rebuilding a considerable portion 
of the monastery with the ruins of the old city; and these works 
appear to have been progressing, with intermissions, until about 
the year 1090. While Eadmer’s workmen were excavating the 
materials, they discovered an old palace, within a closet of which 
was found a fife of Saint Albans, in ancient British. 

William, whose ambitious schemes had received a check from 
Frederic, abbot at the period of the Conquest, seized the whole 
of its revenues and lands, and eventually took possession of the 
monastery, which he would have destroyed, but was prevailed 
upon by archbishop Lanfranc to appoint his kinsman Paul to the 
abbacy. 


18 


ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS. 


But Frederic was not the only dignitary of this establishment 
whose boldness astounded the ear of princes; for Speed relates 
of William de Trumpington, that in 1217 , when the Dauphin of 
France, amid his career of rapine and devastation, demanded 
homage from this prelate, he received for answer, “ Lewis, thou 
must first absolve me from mine allegiance to the king of En¬ 
gland.” 

During the abbacy of Robert de Gorham, in the reign of Ste¬ 
phen, Nicholas Breakspeare, “ who was born at Abbot’s Langley, 
a youth in age and comely in body, but an easy clerk, addressed 
himself to the prior, and humbly begged the religious habit.” 
Being advised first to improve his education he went to Paris, 
where his natural abilities soon enabled him to overcome the 
effects of his previous negligence; and he then entered the mo¬ 
nastery of Saint Rufus, near Valentia. This youth eventually 
filled the papal chair as Adrian the fourth, being the only En¬ 
glishman who ever attained that ecclesiastical dignity. When 
pontiff he arrogantly compelled Frederic, emperor of Rome, to 
hold the stirrup of his horse; while his own death furnishes a 
singular proof of the small tenure of human pride, for he was 
choked by a fly. 

From the period when Paul assumed the government the mo¬ 
nastery of Saint Albans continued to flourish, increasing in size, 
wealth, and power, under twenty-six successive abbots. Richard 
Boreman, prior of Norwich, the last of these abbots, was ap¬ 
pointed by the royal interest in the year 1538 ; and when Henry’s 
commissioners came to the abbey, Boreman immediately resigned 
to them his seal of office; thus placing at the disposal of the 
crown revenues which, according to Speed, amounted at that 
time to 25001 . per annum. 

Soon after the dissolution of the religious houses, nothing re¬ 
mained of this immense pile excepting the conventual church, 
which was purchased of Edward the sixth by the inhabitants of 
the town in the year 1553. 

This venerable relic had been in a dilapidated state for some 


ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS. 


19 


years, when in the beginning of 1831 a large mass of the battle- 
mented wall fell. A public subscription was then opened to de¬ 
fray the expense of a thorough renovation ; the call was soon re¬ 
sponded to; and the abbey church of Saint Albans is now restored 
to its pristine beauty, and will probably defy the corroding grasp 
of time for several more generations. 

This magnificent structure, which affords a fine scope for both 
the antiquary and the artist, occupies the summit of a knoll rising 
from the banks of the transparent Ver in Hertfordshire, twenty- 
one miles N. from London. The exterior form of the edifice is 
that of a long cross, comprising a nave, choir, presbytery, two 
aisles, a lady-chapel, and two transepts, at the intersection of 
which latter with the body of the church springs a massive, 
square, three-storied tow r er, supported at the angles by buttresses 
terminating in circular turrets, and crowned with battlements. 
The architectural character of the building is thus described 
by Rickman: “ It is as large as several of the cathedrals, and 
contains a series of work of almost every style and date. The 
tower, transepts, and some parts of the nave are Norman, of a 
plain and bold character. The four western arches on the north 
side, several more on the south side, and the three western 
porches, of which only one retains its original use, are early En¬ 
glish. The choir and lady-chapel are of a date later than the 
western part, and contain portions of a transition from early En¬ 
glish to decorated work. The screens, and some monuments, 
and monumental chapels, present excellent specimens of perpen¬ 
dicular composition. The choir and some other portions are 
groined, but the greater part of the church has plain flat ceilings, 
which have been variously painted. Many windows of later date 
have been inserted in different parts. There are several small 
portions, a water drain and other niches, of very excellent design 
and execution; and the whole church contains so many singu¬ 
larities and beauties, that it deserves the most attentive exami¬ 
nation.” 

A decorated stone screen, erected to the honour of Saint Cuth- 

E 


20 


GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 


bert by the fifteenth abbot, separates the choir from the nave; 
and over it is placed the organ, formerly belonging to the church 
of Saint Dunstan in the east, London. Adjoining this on the west 
side is a chapel dedicated to the same saint. 

The altar-screen, supposed to have been erected by abbot Wal¬ 
lingford about the year 1480, as a covering to the shrine of the 
patron saint, is a rich specimen of florid architecture; and con¬ 
tains a series of exquisitely carved canopied niches. On the 
south side of the chancel is the elaborately sculptured monu¬ 
mental chapel of abbot Ramryge; and directly opposite to this is 
one of a more simple but truly elegant character raised to the 
memory of abbot Whethamsted. The presbytery, which is im¬ 
mediately behind the altar-screen, contains the splendid shrine of 
Saint Albans, near which is a curious wooden gallery where 
formerly monks were stationed to watch the tomb. The sepulchral 
oratory of the illustrious duke Humphrey, brother to Henry the 
fifth, and who was found dead in his bed while a prisoner in this 
monastery, occupies a space beneath one of the large pointed 
arches on the south side of the presbytery. 

The living is a rectory in the archdeaconry of Saint Albans and 
diocese of London, and in the patronage of the mayor and corc 
poration. 

The town of Saint Albans will form the subject of an early 
separate notice. 


GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 

Greenwich holds an interesting place in almost every page of 
British annals. If we carry our thoughts back to the remote days 
of our Saxon progenitors, when rapine and superstition stalked 
in gaunt companionship through the island, Greenwich recalls the 
fabulous story of the conscientious weapon, that, imbrued in the 




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21 


blood of archbishop Alphage, “waxed suddenly greene againe, and 
began the next daye to blossome.” Or, if we revert to the less re¬ 
mote period, when internal discord had happily terminated in the 
union of the Two Roses, the marriage pageants and merry doings 
of “ bluff king Hal,” the birth of England’s maiden queen, the de¬ 
parture of the fleet destined to conquer the “ invincible armada,” 
the gallantry of the unfortunate Raleigh, the ludicrous interview 
between the pedantic James and Nigel, with a thousand other in¬ 
teresting associations, rush upon our recollection. And, again, 
let us examine the records of the present age, and we behold 
Greenwich the great emporium of our external commerce, and 
enjoying the restored privilege of returning two representatives 
to the British House of Commons. 

But the proudest boast of Greenwich is its hospital, the imme¬ 
diate subject of this notice, and which is appropriated to the sup¬ 
port of seamen whose best days have been spent in the service of 
their country. This certainly is an institution that reflects a glory 
of the brightest character upon England; and the fact that it was 
founded at the generous suggestion of a woman renders it the 
more interesting in the eyes of our countrymen. 

The present edifice occupies the site of a palace named Pla¬ 
centia, built by the duke Humphrey, alluded to in the preceding 
article ; “ a man,” says Lambarde, “ no lesse renowned for ap¬ 
proved virtue and wisedome, than honoured for his high estate 
and parentage.” This palace afterward became the favourite re¬ 
sidence of Edward the fourth, of the seventh and eighth Henries, 
of Elizabeth, and of James; and in 1649 it was assigned to the 
use of the Protector. Having fallen greatly into decay during the 
usurpation, Charles the second ordered it to be razed, and com¬ 
menced erecting upon the site a stately palace of Portland stone, 
after a design by Inigo Jones. Of this, however, he only com¬ 
pleted that portion now forming the west wing of the hospital, and 
which is reputed alone to have cost £36,000. To Mary the 
second belongs the honour of appropriating this regal abode to 
its present patriotic purpose. Sir Christopher Wren, with a no- 




22 Greenwich Hospital. 

bility of mind that sheds a brighter lustre upon his memory tharf 
the fame so justly awarded for the magnificent structures left by 
him to posterity, offered his gratuitous services toward completing 
the edifice commenced by Charles ; and William the third granted 
the annual sum of £2000 for prosecuting the works, and as a fund 
toward carrying the plan into effect; at the same time appointing 
an extensive commission to frame statutes for the government of 
the institution, to which commission John Evelyn, the author of 
the Memoirs, Sylva, &c., was appointed treasurer. The founda¬ 
tions of the new portions of the edifice were laid in due form on 
the third of June, 1696, precisely at five p. m., according to an ob¬ 
servation taken by Flamsteed, the royal astronomer. Evelyn tells 
us that the work proceeded slowly, “ because the sum granted by 
the king was payable by exchequer tallies on the post-office, which 
nobody would take at thirty per cent, discount.” What a picture 
is here presented of the existing credit of an establishment which 
now stands without parallel in the world! 

William and Mary afterwards settled other funds upon this 
hospital, the endowment of which was considerably augmented 
during subsequent reigns, both by royal grants and private mu¬ 
nificence. The present annual revenue amounts to an aggregate 
sum of about £130,000, and is derived from the following sources. 
A deduction of sixpence per month from the wages of every seaman 
whether in the royal navy or the merchant service; the profits 
arising from the dues paid to the North and South Foreland 
lighthouses, and bequeathed, with other property, in 1707, by 
Robert Osbaldeston, Esq.; the rents arising from the escheated 
estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, which are situated in Cum¬ 
berland and Durham, and comprise some valuable lead mines; 
the tolls of Greenwich market; a per centage on the freight of 
vessels entering the pool; the produce of various bequests; and 
all unclaimed shares of prize and bounty money. By an act 
passed in the tenth year of the reign of George the fourth, fc for 
the better management of the affairs of Greenwich hospital,” the 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty are constituted ex officio 


GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 


23 


governors of the charity; an appointment which gives to this 
body the patronage of several ecclesiastical benefices. 

The privileges of the institution were originally intended for, 
and confined to, seamen of the royal navy; but they were ex¬ 
tended in 1710 by queen Anne to disabled mariners belonging to 
the merchant service; and foreigners who have served two years 
in the British navy are now also placed upon an equality with 
natives. The hospital was opened in the year 1705, at which 
period fifty-two invalided seamen were placed upon the foundation. 
This number increased during the same year to one hundred; in 
1708 it amounted to three hundred and fifty; and in 1738 to one 
thousand. The present total number of inmates is three thousand 
five hundred, of which two thousand seven hundred and ten are 
in-pensioners, three are matrons, and one hundred and sixty-two 
are nurses; the remainder being composed of superior and subor¬ 
dinate officers with their domestics. 

The immediate management of the hospital is vested in a go¬ 
vernor, a lieutenant-governor, five captains, and eight lieutenants; 
the other resident officers consisting of two chaplains, two phy¬ 
sicians, surgeons, a secretary, &c. The in-pensioners have gra¬ 
tuitous lodging, clothing, provision, and medical attendance, with 
a weekly allowance of tobacco money ; and each nurse, who must 
be the widow of a seaman, receives in addition to clothing and 
maintenance, an annual salary of 11/. for taking charge of the 
apartments and linen of the pensioners, and attending them when 
sick. Beside these about thirty-two thousand out-pensioners are 
provided for from the funds of the charity, which also gives sup¬ 
port to an extensive school, called the naval asylum, for clothing, 
educating, maintaining, and apprenticing the children of seamen. 

The hospital, which is considered one of the most beautiful spe¬ 
cimens of Roman architecture in this country, occupies a site 
on the south bank of the Thames, nearly opposite to the southern¬ 
most point of the Isle of Dogs, and at a distance, by water, of 
five miles E.S.E. from London Bridge. The most favourable 
view of this magnificent structure, which consists of four detached 

F 


24 


GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 


quadrangular piles of building harmoniously arranged, is obtained 
on the river or the opposite shore, from either of which situations 
the entire mass appears in singularly beautiful perspective. In 
the foreground a fine terrace, nearly nine hundred feet in length, 
and terminating at each extremity in an alcove, forms the northern 
or river boundary of a spacious quadrangle, flanked on the west 
and east by two splendid edifices of the Corinthian order. South 
of these, and projecting sufficiently inward to display advantage¬ 
ously the beautifully proportioned domes by which they are 
crowned, two other ranges constitute the eastern and western 
boundaries of a second, and more contracted, quadrangle; sepa¬ 
rated from, and elevated above, the principal square by a double 
flight of six broad steps. The eye is carried along the inner 
fronts of these buildings, by two noble Doric colonnades, to the 
naval asylum, which forms the background; while above this 
rises the royal observatory, amid the foliage of the park, present¬ 
ing a bold but beautiful horizon to the picture. 

The four ranges, which are of Portland stone, are named after 
the several founders, Charles the second, queen Anne, William 
the third, and queen Mary, and constitute respectively the north¬ 
west, north-east, south-west, and south-east wings of the hospital. 
The first range contains the apartments for the governor and 
lieutenant-governor, the council chamber, the governor’s hall, and 
various subordinate offices, together with wards for four hundred 
and seventy-six pensioners; the second, apartments for other re¬ 
sident officers of the establishment, and wards for four hundred 
and forty-two pensioners; the third range comprises the painted 
hall, with wards for five hundred and fifty-nine pensioners; and 
the fourth, the chapel, with wards for one thousand one hundred 
and seventy pensioners. 

The whole of the hospital may be seen by visitors, but the 
painted hall and the chapel, above which rise the fretted domes 
already noticed, are the general objects of attraction. The en¬ 
trance to the former of these is through a vestibule, from which a 
handsome portal leads into the grand saloon; and from this we 


GREENWICH HOSPITAL. 


25 


ascend by a flight of steps to the upper hall, in which is deposited 
the funeral car of lord Nelson. The interior of this suite of apart¬ 
ments is richly decorated with an extensive variety of naval por¬ 
traits, trophies, and emblematical paintings; and the exquisite em¬ 
bellishments of the grand saloon, painted by Sir James Thornhill, 
excite universal admiration. 

Opposite to the entrance of the painted hall is that of the chapel, 
the roof and interior of which were destroyed by fire in 1779, and 
restored, after a design by Stuart, in an elegant and chaste style 
of Grecian architecture. From a vestibule adorned with statues 
of Faith, Hope, Meekness, and Charity, an ascent of steps leads 
through an exquisitely enriched portal into the chapel. The 
organ gallery rests upon four fluted Ionic columns of beautifully 
veined marble; and Corinthian pillars, rising on each side of the 
altar and of the entrance, support' a lofty, arched, paneled roof, 
elegantly decorated with foliage. The upper part of the walls is 
embellished with a series of subjects from the life of our Saviour, 
painted in chiaro-oscuro, that of the Ascension being placed over 
the altar-piece. 

Opposite to the east entrance of the hospital is a range of hand¬ 
some brick buildings, consisting of the board-room and civil offices 
belonging to the establishment; and immediately without the west 
entrance is a similar range, comprising the infirmary, and a build¬ 
ing for the reception of imbecile pensioners. 

The edifice, now appropriated to the naval asylum was formerly 
a palace belonging to the queen of Charles the second, to which 
have been added the wings now occupied as the school-rooms. 
The institution comprises an upper and a lower school; to the 
former of which are admitted the sons of commissioned and ward¬ 
room warrant officers, and to the latter, the children of inferior 
warrant and non-commissioned officers and seamen. An excel¬ 
lently conducted infirmary, attached to the school, offers its shelter 
to such members of this juvenile community as may be labouring 
under illness; while in the grounds, which are pleasantly and 
neatly arranged, is a gymnasium, where the boys are encouraged 

f 2 


26 


TOTTENHAM MILLS. 


in the practice of those athletic exercises that are at once so con¬ 
ducive to health of body and vigour of mind, and so essential to 
youths destined for nautical pursuits. 


TOTTENHAM MILLS. 

This is a locality well known both to anglers and artists; the 
former of whom resort here for the enjoyment of their favourite 
sport, while the latter are attracted by the picturesque scenery 
with which the neighbourhood abounds. 

The mills, which form the subject of our sixth illustration, are 
situated on the river Lea, about half a mile eastward of the high 
cross at Tottenham; and probably, like most erections of the 
same character along the river, formerly belonged to one of the 
many religious communities, which had established themselves in 
this fertile valley. 

In the early part of 1778 these mills were destroyed by fire, and 
in the year 1816 were considerably damaged by a flood; each 
restoration, however, was attended with such improvements as 
greatly to enhance the value of the property. They were formerly 
employed in the manufacture of paper, under the occupancy of 
Mr. Thomas Cooke, a great benefactor to the poor of Tottenham; 
but are now used as corn and oil mills. The lessee receives a 
toll from those passing the bridge, and also a yearly payment from 
the Lea and Stort navigation company, in compensation for the 
expense incurred in keeping the bridge and banks in repair. 

Immediately to the east of the mills is one of the celebrated 
fishing inns to which Walton and his associates were accustomed 
to resort; and which is still frequented by modern Piscators, 
among whom it is known by the designation of Hughes’ ferry. 
This house will be the subject of a future engraving. 

































































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27 


BARKING. 

Barking is the name of a parish and small town in the hundred of 
Becontree, southern division of the county of Essex, and distant 
seven miles E. by N. from London. The town is situated on the 
east bank of the Roding, about midway between the junction of 
that river with the Thames, and the turnpike road to Chelmsford. 
It is a place of great antiquity, and at one period enjoyed consider¬ 
able importance from being the seat of a nunnery, founded in the 
year 670 by Erkenwald, bishop of London; but these ancient 
glories have gradually departed, and about three years ago almost 
the sole remaining privilege of the place, that of a chartered 
market, was transferred to the more flourishing town of Romford. 
The market-house, a wooden edifice built by Elizabeth, remains ; 
and a pleasure fair is still annually held on the twenty-second of 
October. 

The etymology of the name, which Bede writes Berecing, is 
traced by some to the Saxon compound beorce-ing , signifying a 
meadow of birch trees, and by others to that of berg-ing, a forti¬ 
fication in the meadows. The latter derivation is strengthened 
by the circumstance of the remains of an ancient and considerable 
entrenchment being still perceptible on a farm designated Uphall, 
situated between the towns of Ilford and Barking. Mr. Letliieul- 
lier, who resided here in the middle of the last century, and who 
wrote a history of Barking, considers that this earth-work denotes 
the site of a Roman town, rather than the remains of a camp; 
and that the ruins of the supposed town were used in the erection 
and subsequent repair of Barking abbey; and in confirmation of 
this opinion he mentions having discovered Roman bricks in a 
portion of its foundations. 

Barking nunnery is supposed to have been the first religious 
house for women established in this country, and was founded, as 
already stated, by Erkenwald at the earnest request of his sister 
Ethelburga, who was constituted the first abbess, and received, 


28 


BARKING. 


at her death, the honour of a station among the saints of the 
Romish calendar. Erkenwald appears to have been the first to 
hold the prelacy of London after the erection of the church of 
Saint Paul by king Ethelbert; and the monkish historians are 
verbose in their praises of his unexampled piety and religious zeal. 
They inform us that, when the infirmities of age had produced a 
decay of his physical energy, he continued to exhort and instruct 
the people throughout his diocese from a litter, on which he was 
conveyed from place to place; and as nothing could be accom¬ 
plished at that period without a miracle, it is related that upon his 
death, which occurred at Barking about the year 685, the desire 
to possess his bones created a disturbance between the nuns of 
Barking, the monks of Chertsey, and the citizens of London, which 
was only allayed by a supernatural decision in favour of the latter. 
The bishop was canonized, and in the reign of Stephen a splendid 
shrine was raised to his memory in Saint Paul’s cathedral. 

After the decease of Ethelburga several wives and daughters of 
monarchs, and other distinguished females, successively ruled the 
abbey until about 870, when it was burned by the Danes, and the 
nuns either dispersed or slain. About the year 970 the monastery 
was rebuilt and richly endowed by King Edgar, whose widow 
afterward presided as abbess; and soon after the arrival of the 
Normans in England, William established his residence here until 
the Tower of London should be completed. Matilda, queen of 
Henry the first, Maud, wife of Stephen, and Mary a Becket, sister 
to the archbishop, at later periods severally governed this mona¬ 
stery, of which little is recorded worthy of notice subsequent to 
the death of the last-named abbess. At the dissolution the annual 
revenues of the abbey were estimated, according to Speed, at 
1084/. 6s. d. 

The only remaining vestiges of the convent are an arch oppo¬ 
site to the workhouse, and a structure at the entrance of the pa¬ 
rochial churchyard, called Fire-bell-gate from the supposition that 
it anciently contained the curfew. This gateway consists of a 
square embattled tower, with an octagonal embattled turret at 


BARKTNG. 


29 


each angle, extending from the base to a little above the battle¬ 
ment of the tower. The upper portion contains a chapel dedicated 
to the Holy-rood, a representation of which, in alto-relievo, ap¬ 
pears on the interior wall. The windows of the chapel are deco¬ 
rated, and of three lights; immediately beneath them are the re¬ 
mains of two fine canopied niches; and the base forms a finely 
pointed arch enriched with deeply cut mouldings. 

The parochial church, shown in our engraving as viewed from 
the west, is of a mixed style of architecture, and has been much 
mutilated both exteriorly and internally. The edifice is dedicated 
to Saint Margaret, and consists of a nave, a chancel, two north 
aisles running parallel, a south aisle, a small north-east chapel, 
and a square tower crowned with battlements, and having an oc¬ 
tagonal embattled turret at the north-west corner. The interior 
contains one or two marble monuments, and a piscina in the nave 
is nearly obliterated by mortar. 

The living is a vicarage in the patronage of the college of All 
Souls, Oxford, to which body also the impropriation belongs. 

The manor of Barking, which probably constituted a portion of 
the endowment of the nunnery, remained in the crown from the 
suppression to 1628, when it was sold by Charles the second. It 
is now in the possession of the Hulse family. 

At the north entrance of the town is a neat and spacious poor- 
house, erected in 1787; containing apartments appropriated to the 
education of indigent children, for which purpose a fund was be¬ 
queathed in 1641. A beautiful mansion, designated Bifrons, and 
whose grounds latterly formed the sole ornament of the town, 
has been destroyed. 

A branch of the Roding, known as Barking creek, is navigable 
to the town, and northward to Ilford, for vessels of eighty tons’ 
burden, which supply the vicinity with coal and timber; and several 
boats belonging to Barking are employed in the Scotch and Dutch 
fisheries; this trade, together with the growth of potatoes for the 
London markets, furnishing the principal support of the inha- 


30 


TOWN OF SAINT ALBANS. 


bitants. A large corn mill is situated on the river near the spot 
from which our view is taken. 

The parish of Barking, which is now embodied in the Romford 
union, is very extensive, and comprises the four wards of Barking- 
town, Chadwell, Ilford, and Ripple. It is 10,170 English statute 
acres in extent, and contains 1486 houses, which are tenanted by 
1651 families, amounting to an aggregate population of 8036. 


TOWN OF SAINT ALBANS. 

In pursuance of our recent promise, the reader is now presented 
with a topographical sketch of the town of Saint Albans ; the ac¬ 
companying illustration being that of the market-place. 

This interesting town is indebted for its origin to the abbey, of 
which we have previously given some account; but it occupies 
nearly the site, and is supposed to have been built with the ruins, 
of the ancient city of Verulam, whose etymology may be readily 
traced to the neighbouring river Ver. This city appears to have 
been the seat of government of the Cassians, and to have been 
yielded to Julius Caesar on his subjugating the prince of that na¬ 
tion, Cassibelan. Under the Roman sway it rapidly prospered ; 
and in the time of Nero was one of the principal military stations, 
having also attained the rank of municipium, which gave to 
the inhabitants the same privileges as those enjoyed by citizens 
of Rome. 

During the absence of the emperor’s troops in Mona, Boadicea, 
at the head of an immense army, besieged and destroyed the place ; 
inflicting the most disgusting cruelties upon the townspeople, be¬ 
cause of their fidelity to the power under whose government they 
had acquired wealth and honour. But the return of Suetonius, 
who had been appointed lieutenant of Britain, at the head of his 
legions speedily put a period to the conquests of the Icenian 





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TOWN OF SAINT ALBANS. 


31 


queen, who, according to Tacitus, poisoned herself immediately 
after a defeat in which it is said eighty thousand Britons perished. 

Under Agricola, Verulam resumed its importance, was for some 
time the seat of coinage, and continued to flourish until the final 
departure of the Romans from this island. In 429 we find the 
citizens taking a conspicuous part in the Pelagian controversy; a 
considerable blank then occurs in the history of the place, which 
appears to have been finally despoiled during the wars of the 
Heptarchy. 

At length the monastery founded by Ofla gradually increasing 
in extent and riches, Ulsinus, the sixth abbot, about the year 950, 
established the present town, for which he obtained from Ethel- 
dred the grant of a market, and the privileges of a borough. In 
addition to many houses erected at his own charge, Ulsinus built 
the three churches of Saint Stephen, Saint Peter, and Saint Mi¬ 
chael, together with a chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalen. 

At this town the Conqueror was impeded in his progress through 
the country by the abbot Frederic, and compelled to swear that he 
would not violate the ancient laws of England; and in the year 
1213 a parliament was held here, at which John professed his 
readiness to maintain the statutes made by his father. A few 
years afterward the town was twice plundered and the inhabit¬ 
ants maltreated by the mercenary followers of prince Louis; in 
1250 it was visited with the shock of an earthquake ; and fifteen 
years later was strongly fortified and garrisoned by Henry the 
third. During the insurrection of Wat Tyler, a numerous body 
of his adherents besieged the abbey for the purpose of extorting 
money from the monks ; and several inhabitants of the town who 
had joined the insurgents were subsequently executed and hung 
in chains. On the twenty-second of May, 1455, a sanguinary 
battle was fought here between Henry the sixth, aided by the 
dukes of Somerset and Buckingham, and the duke of York, sup¬ 
ported by the earls of Warwick and Salisbury; in which conflict 
the Lancastrians were defeated with great loss. Another severe 
engagement took place in the neighbourhood on Shrove Tues- 

G 


32 


TOWN OF SAINT ALBANS. 


day, 1461, between the earl of Warwick and the northern lords 
headed by the queen, at the termination of which the town suf¬ 
fered greatly from the ravages of Margaret’s victorious troops. 
The writ of array issued in the reign of Charles the first for the 
purpose of subduing the earl of Essex and his followers was exe¬ 
cuted at Saint Albans by sheriff Coningsby, who in consequence 
was arrested by Cromwell, sent to the Tower, and his estates con¬ 
fiscated. 

The privileges conferred by Etheldred upon the town were 
confirmed and extended in several subsequent reigns; and Ed¬ 
ward the sixth granted to the borough a charter of incorpora¬ 
tion, in which the charnel-house of the abbey was given for a 
common-hall. This building was taken down a few years ago, 
and replaced by the edifice shown in our view. On the right of 
the town-hall is seen the tower of the abbey church; while at a 
little distance, and rising above some old dwelling-houses, appears 
an ancient brick clock-tower, the upper story of which contains 
a large bell dedicated to the archangel Gabriel, and supposed to 
have been used for the curfew. Respecting the origin of this 
structure various singular legends exist; but the most probable 
conjecture is, that it was erected for the purpose of a watch-tower 
by one of the abbots of the monastery. A beautiful cross erected 
by Edward the first in memory of his queen, and which stood in 
the centre of the market-place, was destroyed by the troops during 
the civil war. 

The charter of Edward the sixth, with some modifications in¬ 
troduced by Elizabeth and Charles the second, continued in force 
until the passing of the act, in the fifth and sixth of the present 
reign, for regulating municipal corporations; under the provisions 
of which act Saint Albans is constituted a borough with a com¬ 
mission of the peace, the government being vested in a mayor, 
four aldermen, and twelve councillors. 

The elective franchise was first exercised here in the thirty- 
fifth year of the reign of Edward the first; from the fifth of Ed¬ 
ward the third until the first of Edward the fourth it was sus- 














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TOWN OF SAINT ALBANS. 


33 


pended; after which latter period Saint Albans continued to re¬ 
turn two members to parliament; and this privilege was even¬ 
tually confirmed by the reform act, the borough being at the 
same time enlarged. 

The present borough is nearly co-extensive with the town, 
which is twenty-one miles N.W. by N. from London, and com¬ 
prises the parish of Saint Albans, usually denominated the abbey 
liberty, and portions of the parishes of Saint Michael and Saint 
Peter. The whole of these parishes, together with that of Saint 
Stephen, the village belonging to which is about one mile south¬ 
west of Saint Albans, are situated in the hundred of Cashio, 
county of Hertford, and occupy an area 20,430 English statute 
acres in extent. They contain 1670 houses, which are tenanted 
by 2034 families, constituting an aggregate population of 9338, of 
which amount about 6000 are in the borough. 

The town, which is situated on the Roman Watling-street, and 
is now a posting station on the high road to Birmingham, Holy- 
head, &c., occupies the summit and northern side of an eminence, 
and consists principally of three streets, which are well paved and 
lighted. Within the last few years considerable improvement has 
been made in the approaches, and on a new line of road south of the 
town several elegant villas and an extensive inn have been erected. 
Several local conveyances run between London and this place, 
which is also in the route of many of the north country coaches. 
The sojourner here will find ample and good public accommoda¬ 
tion, and the neighbourhood abounds with remnants of antiquity 
that are worthy of the tourist’s attention. 

The church of Saint Peter has been nearly rebuilt since the 
commencement of the present century : it occupies an eminence 
on the north-east side of the town, and is a cruciform structure, 
with some good windows in the perpendicular style. The interior 
has a light and elegant appearance, and contains several neat mural 
tablets; among which is one erected to the memory of a young 
Oxonian, and adorned with a tribute of friendship from the clas¬ 
sical pen of Dr. Cotton. Saint Michael’s church forms the subject 

g 2 


34 


TOWN OF SAINT ALBANS. 


of our tenth illustration, and is situated at the western extremity 
of the town, within the walls of the old city. Independently of 
the attraction of its venerable exterior, this church is interesting 
to the tourist as the place in which repose the mortal remains of 
the illustrious Bacon. A niche on the northern side of the chancel 
contains a finely-sculptured statue of alabaster, erected by an old 
servant, and representing the great philosopher seated in the at¬ 
titude of deep thought. The church of Saint Stephen contains 
many curious monuments ; and, with the exception of the tower, 
still presents an interesting antique appearance, notwithstanding 
the numerous alterations it has undergone at different periods. 

The living attached to each of these churches is a vicarage, in 
the archdeaconry of Saint Albans, and diocese of London. The 
patronage and impropriation of the first belong to the bishop of 
Ely, and those of the second to the earl of Verulam. Of the 
living of Saint Stephen, the reverend M. R. Southwell is the 
patron, and the reverend C. Lomax the impropriator. 

Saint Albans contains places of worship for various classes of 
dissenters; a free grammar school, established by Edward the 
sixth ; several other institutions for gratuitous education; and a 
considerable number of almshouses, among which the Marlbo¬ 
rough buildings, founded by Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, 
deserve inspection. A market is held weekly on Saturday; and 
two annual fairs are kept here, one on Lady-day for horses, the 
other a statute fair on the ninth, tenth, and eleventh of October. 
Plaiting straw and the manufacture of lace form the chief occu¬ 
pations of the poorer inhabitants; and some neighbouring mills 
for spinning cotton and silk furnish employment to the children. 
Letters are conveyed by the Holyhead and Birmingham mail, 
which arrives from London at ten p.m., and returns through at 
five a.m. 







* 


' AT ‘ 





















































WOOLWICH. 


The excursion to Greenwich hospital cannot be more appro¬ 
priately extended than by a visit to the dock-yards, arsenal, and 
other nautical establishments at Woolwich. The relative proxi¬ 
mity of the two places renders the performance of this task easy; 
and there is an identity of object—that of maintaining and strength¬ 
ening the marine superiority of “ our tight little island”—in the 
bustling activity visible in the one locality, and the state of repose 
which we associate with the other; characteristics that, under 
ordinary circumstances, would appear anomalous. 

Woolwich is the adjoining parish to that of Greenwich; the 
distance between the respective towns being little more than two 
miles, and constituting a delightful promenade along the base of 
Blackheath, commanding an uninterrupted view of the Thames. 
Another route, somewhat longer, but beautifully diversified, passes 
through the pleasant village of Charlton. 

The name is supposed to have been derived from a Saxon term 
signifying the dwellings on the creek. The place is scarcely no¬ 
ticed by our earlier historians, and appears to have consisted of 
only a few fishermen’s cottages, until the reign of Henry the 
eighth; about which period we first find Woolwich invested with 
the dignity of a naval depot, by the possession of a royal dock¬ 
yard, the establishment of which was gradually followed by that 
of the arsenal, the artillery barracks, the military academy, and 
the various other government institutions that now constitute the 
leading attractions of the place, and from which the inhabitants 
derive their principal support. 

The progressive location of these institutions naturally led to 
commensurate improvements in the town itself. By some local 
acts passed in the reign of George the third the streets of Wool¬ 
wich were paved and lighted, and a watch and a market esta¬ 
blished ; and the lighting has been subsequently improved by 


36 


WOOLWICH. 


the erection of gas-works. Under the provisions of the reform 
act, Woolwich is made a constituent part of the electoral borough 
of Greenwich. The town consists, like most maritime and mili¬ 
tary stations, of an incongruous blending of handsome structures 
with miserable huts ; presenting a painful contrast of the extremes 
of human gaiety and wretchedness. Some fine woodland on the 
south gives a picturesque character to the neighbouring scenery ; 
and although the greater part of the town occupies a marshy 
site, the air is considered very salubrious. 

The royal dock-yard, which is under the control of a captain- 
superintendent, appointed by the Admiralty, occupies the south 
bank of the river, extending from west to east about two-thirds 
of the entire length of the town. It is somewhat singular that, 
notwithstanding Woolwich owes its first step from obscurity to 
the formation of the dock-yard, no historical record is known to 
be in existence from which the precise period of this event can 
be ascertained; however, during the reigns of Henry the eighth, 
Mary, Elizabeth, and Charles the first, most of our first-rate 
ships of war were built here. Among these may be enumerated 
the Great Harry of fifteen hundred tons’ burden, commanded in 
1515 by Sir Thomas Spert, founder of the Trinity corporation; 
its rival in magnitude, the Sovereign of the Seas, of sixteen hun¬ 
dred tons’ burden, built in 1637 by one of the Petts, which family 
for many years monopolized the offices of master-builders in the 
different dock-yards of England ; the Royal George, whose me¬ 
lancholy fate is familiar to every reader of naval history; the 
Boyne, the Blenheim, the Thunderer, and a long catalogue of 
others ; each of whose decks have witnessed the unrivalled valour 
of British seamen both in success and defeat. 

The lengthened period during which the olive-branch of peace 
has flourished in this country, has naturally circumscribed the 
operations at this establishment; and to this cause of diminished 
activity may be added the removal of our chief naval architecture 
to the dock-yards of Chatham, Sheerness, and Portsmouth. There 
are, however, at the present time four ships of war on the stocks 


WOOLWICH. 


37 

here ; one of which, the Trafalgar, has been in progress for six 
years. 

The construction of one of these ocean-castles is an interesting 
study. Every stage of the work, from the first appearance of the 
bare ribs emerging from the keel, to the moment when the gal¬ 
lant/ vessel, with yet untested powers, boldly embosoms itself in 
the element that is to give it—if we may be allowed the solecism 
—life and motion, furnishes a proud display of the triumph of 
human ingenuity. The geometrical precision with which each 
timber is proportioned, each plank brought to the exact curve 
suitable for its intended place, and even each pin formed; the 
ease and regularity with which all these apparently difficult tasks 
are accomplished ; and, lastly, the nice balance attained on the 
completion of the stupendous structure; strike the mind of the 
spectator with astonishment and admiration. 

The apprentices of the blacksmiths belonging to Woolwich 
yard keep an annual ceremony on the eve of Saint Clement, of 
which the following is an account. Having elected one of the 
senior apprentices to represent their patron saint, he is attired in 
a great coat, oakum wig, mask, and white flowing beard; and thus 
equipped is enthroned in a large chair covered with bunting and 
surmounted by a crown and anchor, his regalia being a hammer 
and pair of tongs. Before him is placed an anvil; and around his 
throne are four transparencies, representing the blacksmiths’ 
arms, anchorsmiths at work, Britannia, and Mount Etna. After 
nominating his ministers, who consist of a mate and other, at¬ 
tendants, old Clem, is mounted on the shoulders of six men, and, 
preceded by a drum and fife, commences his tour of inspection. 
At each station, among which our readers will readily surmise the 
public-houses are not forgotten, the mate calls to order; and the 
saint, in a mock-heroic speech, made up of allusions to Vulcan, 
Jupiter, and thunderbolts, asserts that he is the real Saint Clement, 
just returned from regions known and unknown, and concludes 
by declaring his gratification on finding all his subjects, the 
gentlemen Vulcans of the dock-yard, so hard at work! This 


38 


WOOLWICH. 


astounding piece of information is of course received with accla¬ 
mations ; an appeal is made to the purses of the audience; and 
the procession moves forward. So soon as sufficient supplies 
have been voted, his saintship and court retire to their refectory, 
where they prove their tolerance of faith by an ad libitum, sacrifice 
to the heathen deities. 

The royal arsenal extends over an area of two hundred and 
fifty acres, partly in the parish of Plumstead, and occupies the 
site of a former rabbit warren; from which latter circumstance 
the establishment retained the cognomen of the Warren, until 
George the third, on one of his visits, conferred upon it the pre¬ 
sent title. It is situated on the east side of the town, and has an 
extensive wharfage along the bank of the river, occupied by a 
spacious and handsome range of storehouses, forming three sides 
of a quadrangle. The ground floor of these buildings, as well as 
the wharf, is intersected with iron tramways, on which the heavy 
stores are readily transmitted from the warehouses to the quay. 
Small craft are also brought to the several buildings by means of 
a short canal, constituting the south-eastern boundary of the ar¬ 
senal, and the banks of which are ornamented with a fine avenue 
of trees. Near this canal are a sawing mill, a planing machine, 
and a variety of apparatus for turning, the whole of which are 
worked by steam engines. The principal entrance to the ar¬ 
senal is at the south-west angle, through a noble gateway, ap¬ 
propriately decorated with warlike emblems, and forming one side 
of Beresford-square. Upon applying at the lodge for permission 
to inspect the place, the visitor will find no difficulty of ingress, 
and will experience from the officers of the several departments 
a polite readiness to supply any information that may be desired. 
The establishment consists of five grand divisions, respectively 
designated the carriage, the artillery, the laboratory, the engineer¬ 
ing, and the store, departments ; each of which is placed under 
the supreme control of an officer, who is appointed by, and only 
amenable to, the honourable Board of Ordnance. To the first of 
these departments belong the construction and repair of every 


WOOLWICH. 


39 


kind of carriage connected with naval and military artillery; in 
the second, all fire arms are proved and kept in readiness for im¬ 
mediate service ; in the third are manufactured all cartridges, 
rockets, and other combustible preparations, used for purposes 
both of warfare and public rejoicing; upon the fourth devolves 
the duty of erecting and repairing all buildings belonging to the 
Board of Ordnance; and to the fifth department is committed the 
custody of the naval and military stores. The ordnance foundry, 
in which the processes of casting, turning, and boring cannon is 
carried on, is perhaps to visitors the most interesting portion of 
the arsenal. This establishment was originally located in Moor- 
fields, London, whence it was removed to Woolwich in conse¬ 
quence of an accident that was attended with melancholy results. 
The surveyor-general had given orders that some old ordnance, 
captured from the French by the duke of Marlborough, should be 
recast into English guns ; and the circumstance having become 
known to the public, a large concourse assembled to witness the 
operation. Among these was a young Swiss, named Schalch, who 
w r as travelling for improvement in scientific pursuits. His keen 
observation detected that the moulds placed to receive the metal 
had not been sufficiently dried; and he immediately intimated to 
the surveyor-general his suspicion of the danger that would accrue 
from this fact. Notwithstanding his prediction the metal was 
run ; and the instantaneous generation of steam in the damp 
moulds caused a tremendous explosion, that not only destroyed 
the edifice, but was attended with a lamentable sacrifice of human 
life. The occurrence, however, proved fortunate to the young 
mechanic, who was subsequently summoned to the Ordnance 
office, and, after a rigid test of his ability, was commissioned to 
select a site for, and. establish, a new foundry, over which he held 
the office of superintendent for sixty years. He died in 1776, at 
the advanced age of ninety, and was interred in the churchyard 
of Woolwich. His name appears on the breech of the brass guns 
rescued by the intrepid and ingenious diver, Mr. Deane, from the 
wreck of the Royal George, and some of which have been placed in 


H 


40 


WOOLWICH, 


the rotunda. These guns, in common with all the ordnance of the 
same period, were cast upon a centre, by which the muzzle was 
ready formed; but the metal is now run in a solid mass, and the 
bore afterward formed by the action of machinery, which at the 
same time turns and finishes the exterior. Adjoining the foundry 
are the guard-house, the head quarters of the commandant of the 
garrison and his staff, and the residences of the heads of the 
various departments of the arsenal. 

At a short distance from the entrance to the arsenal, on the 
road leading to Woolwich common, are the barracks for the sap¬ 
pers and miners ; and adjoining these is the grand depot for field 
train artillery, comprising the offices belonging to the director- 
general and other officers of the field train, and sheds in which 
an immense number of mounted guns, furnished with the requisite 
quantity of ammunition and stores, are kept in readiness for im¬ 
mediate embarkation. A little southward of the depbt, on the 
opposite side of the road, is the ordnance hospital, a handsome 
structure, containing wards for seven hundred patients, with 
apartments for the resident officers and attendants, a medical 
library, and civil offices. 

The barracks for the royal horse and foot artillery are now on 
our right; and here let us advise the’tourist to proceed, if possible 
with closed eyes, in a south-west direction for about three hundred 
yards ; when, reversing his physical position, he will thank us for 
this suggestion. He will then be in the centre of the barrack 
field; while immediately before him, extending from east to west 
for above a quarter of a mile, stands the magnificent south, or 
principal front of certainly the finest barracks in the kingdom. 
The centre of this front consists of a splendid stone portal of three 
arches, separated by ranges of Doric columns, and emblazoned 
with military trophies, the central arch being surmounted by the 
royal arms beautifully sculptured. This entrance is flanked right 
and left by handsome ranges of light brick, relieved and strength¬ 
ened with Portland stone, the eastern wing being surmounted by 
a handsome clock, and that on the west by a wind-dial; and the 


WOOLWICH. 


41 


space between the entire front and the barrack field is occupied 
by a fine gravelled parade. On the verge of this parade, and im¬ 
mediately in front of the grand entrance, is an immense piece of 
artillery taken at the siege of Bhurtpoor, and presented by the 
East India Company to George the fourth. This is supported 
on/each side by several smaller, but exceedingly beautiful, guns 
mounted on richly chased bronze carriages; while beyond these 
characteristic ornaments the eye is carried through the principal 
portal down a lengthened vista to another arch, forming the 
northern entrance to the barracks, which consist of two extensive 
quadrangles, capable of affording quarters to about four thousand 
men and their requisite number of officers. The eastern wing of 
the south front was erected in 1775, and contains the chapel, 
which is spacious and elegant ; the guard-room; and the officers’ 
library. The western wing was erected in 1802, and contains the 
officers’ mess-room, drawing-room, and ante-rooms, which together 
form a splendid suite of apartments; the offices of the commandant 
and adjutant-general; and those appropriated to the particular 
business of each battalion. An elegantly-designed and spacious 
riding-school occupies the extremity of the east square; and 
nearly opposite to this is a racket court, built and supported by 
subscriptions among the officers of the corps. At the western 
extremity of the parade a park of guns is kept in complete order 
for instant service; and southward of this park is a small field- 
battery mounted with howitzers, appropriated to the exercise of 
the men and cadets. 

The repository is an extensive plot of ground westward from 
the barrack field, intersected in several places by pieces of water 
over which pontoons are thrown, and surrounded with a fortifica¬ 
tion of earthwork, on which are mounted numerous kinds of 
cannon : here the artillery-men are instructed in field practice. 
The rotunda, which stands at the north entrance of the ground, 
was originally erected in the gardens of Carlton palace for the en¬ 
tertainment of the allied sovereigns, and was subsequently pre¬ 
sented to the garrison at Woolwich, by whom it was appropriated 

h 2 


42 


WOOLWICH. 


to its present object, that of a museum of naval and military archi¬ 
tecture. Considerably southward of the repository, and near the 
Dovor road, is the royal veterinary hospital, which is a neat brick 
building consisting of a centre and wings. 

At the south-east verge of Woolwich common, and immediately 
opposite to the artillery barracks, is the royal military academy, a 
neat castellated Elizabethan edifice, appropriated to instructing 
cadets in such branches of military education as will enable them 
to hold commissions in the royal engineers or the artillery. The 
master-general of the ordnance is ex officio governor, and he is 
assisted by a lieutenant-governor, an inspector, professors of ma¬ 
thematics and of fortification, and several assistant masters. 

On the common, of which the barrack field may be considered 
a portion, being separated only by a fosse, reviews are frequently 
held; and at these periods the concourse of visitors both from 
London and the more immediate locality is generally very great. 

Having thus briefly sketched the leading subjects of attraction 
on and about the common, we shall now return to the centre of the 
town through the artillery barracks, in accomplishing which our 
route lies in the direction of the barracks for the fourth division 
of royal marines. These consist of a neat range of buildings, 
affording commodious quarters for about five hundred men, with 
their complement of officers ; and near to them is a convenient and 
handsome hospital, erected in 1815 for the joint use of the corps 
and invalided seamen belonging to the station. 

The church, which is dedicated to Saint Mary, occupies an ele¬ 
vated piece of ground commanding the dock-yards, and bears all 
the characteristics of a garrison structure. The present edifice, 
which is of brick with stone quoins, cornices, and copings, was 
erected in the fifth year of the reign of George the second, on the 
site of a church granted by Henry the second to the monks of 
Rochester; and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a mas¬ 
sive square tower at the west end, from which rises a flap-staff. 

O 

The interior is spacious and elegantly arranged, and contains 
several standards taken from the enemy. The living is a rectory 


WOOLWICH. 


43 


in the archdeaconry and diocese of Rochester, to the bishop of 
which see the patronage belongs. A new district church, of the 
Grecian order, has been recently erected near the arsenal gates; 
and in the town are places of worship for various classes of 
dissenters. 

Woolwich possesses several charitable institutions, both for as¬ 
sisting the more indigent inhabitants and educating their children; 
and an attempt has been recently made to establish a literary and 
scientific society. A small theatre is open annually for a short 
season. The chief inn is the Crown and Anchor, in addition to 
which are several commodious taverns. Numerous stage-coaches, 
omnibuses, and steam-packets ply between Woolwich and the 
metropolis; and the Greenwich railway company have auxiliary 
conveyances hence to their depot at Deptford. 

The town extends over an area of 840 English statute acres, 
and contained, at the period of the last census, 2672 houses, 
which were inhabited by 4343 families, comprising a population 
of 17,661. It is distant E. by S. from London-bridge, by land 
eight, and by water nine, miles; and is within the circuit of the 
threepenny post delivery. The parish, which is situated in the 
hundred of Blackheath, western division of the county of Kent, 
is not at present embodied in any union, the parishioners having 
claimed exemption from the jurisdiction of the poor law commis¬ 
sioners, under the provisions of a local act. 

Our illustration exhibits Woolwich from a point on the oppo¬ 
site shore near the ferry leading to Barking, close to which 
stands the little tavern displayed on the right, where the visitor 
will meet with an attentive and intelligent host, and good cheer; 
at the same time commanding a considerable extent of the en« 
livening scenery of the river. 


i 


44 


BROXBOURN BRIDGE, 


BROXBOURN BRIDGE. 

Broxbourn-bridge has long been one of the favourite resorts of 
brothers of the angle; indeed it is hallowed by the especial no¬ 
tice of the courteous Walton. This bridge crosses the river Lea, 
uniting the counties of Hertford and Essex; and close to it, on 
the Essex side, stands the celebrated fishing inn, the gable end 
of which appears in the right extremity of our illustration. To 
this place Piscator leads Venator, after the otter hunt, to discuss 
the merits of a dish of chub, “ at an honest alehouse, where,” he 
says, “we shall find a cleanly room, lavender in the windows, and 
twenty ballads stuck about the walls; there my hostess, which I 
may tell you is both cleanly and handsome and civil, hath dressed 
many a cheven for me.” At this place also he introduces us to the 
right pleasant fellowship of brother Peter and his witty and lively 
friend Coridon. Father Isaak and his pupils, with many a sub¬ 
sequent race of disciples, have long been numbered with the past; 
but the hostelry, or it may be another reared phoenix-like from 
the ruins, still gives kindly welcome to the traveller; and there 
the angler, after “ pursuing the noiseless tenour of his way” in 
quest of the finny spoil, can retire to enjoy a social glass in right 
merrie companie, within walls rendered classic to every lover of 
the piscatory art. The house now bears the sign of the Crown; 
and retains the same character for comfort, civility, and excellent 
cheer, which nearly two centuries ago called forth the praise of 
the prince of fishermen. The river from the Gull water down to 
the King’s weir at Wormley is rented by the proprietors of the 
inn, and is abundantly stocked with pike, perch, chub, and eels. 

The village of Broxbourn is in the hundred and county of Hert¬ 
ford, fifteen miles N. by E. from Shoreditch church, on the road 
to Ware. It consists of one street a mile in length, containing 
many neat rural cottages, with one or two handsome residences ; 
and is pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence, surrounded by 














■jj) <Q[ )[■&)! ® Milt r? © sir :& ©li a: 































BROXBOURN BRIDGE. 


45 


meadows, and watered by the Lea and New rivers, the latter of 
which crosses the road nearly in the centre of the village. 

The church stands a little to the east of the main road, occu¬ 
pying the brow of the acclivity, the New river passing immedi¬ 
ately in front of the entrance. It is a handsome edifice of flint, 
dedicated to Saint Augustine, in the later period of the decorated 
style of English architecture, and comprises a nave, chancel, and 
aisles, a north-east and south chapel, and a square tower sur¬ 
mounted by a short octagonal spire. The chapel at the north¬ 
east angle, which, together with the north aisle, was erected in 
the year 1522 by sir William Say, then lord of the adjoining 
manor of Base, displays some very beautiful workmanship; and 
contains, beneath the arch separating it from the chancel, an altar 
tomb of grey marble raised to the memory of the founder, and 
bearing the following inscription in black letter: “ Of your che- 
ritie pray for the sowl of sir William Say, Kt., deceased, late lord 
of the mannor of Base, his Fader and Moder, Genevese and 
Elizabeth his wyffs, who dyed the 4th of December 1529, 21 H.8.” 
Abutting from the north aisle is an octagon tower, containing 
a narrow staircase leading to a chamber in the upper story, which 
room was most probably formerly used as a depository for the 
plate, vestments, and other sacerdotal property. The interior of 
the church presents a very neat appearance, and contains, in ad¬ 
dition to the tomb already noticed, several fine monuments. The 
living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese 
of London, to the bishop of which see the patronage and impro¬ 
priation both belong. 

The manor of Broxbourn, or as the name was anciently written 
Brookesbourne, from the river, is stated in the Doomsday book 
to be then held by Adeliz, the wife of Hugh de Grentemaisnill, 
a Norman: it was afterward, together with certain corn mills, 
bestowed successively upon the monks of Bermondsey, and the 
knights hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem; and eventually 
came by marriage into the possession of sir John Mounson of 
Carleton, in the county of Lincoln, from whose descendant, lord 

i 2 


46 


HAMPTON. 


Monson, it was purchased by Jacob Bosanquet, esquire, the 
present lord of the manor. The manor-house, a spacious brick 
mansion, called Broxbourn-bury, is embosomed in a fine park 
west of the village. Stow relates that king James in his journey 
from Scotland to take possession of the English crown, partook 
of a magnificent entertainment, and slept one night at this man¬ 
sion. The mills above alluded to are situated between the church 
and the bridge, and are supplied by one of the branches of the 
river Lea. 

The parish, which is one of the members of the Ware union, 
is, exclusive of that part of the hamlet of Hoddesdon which is re¬ 
turned in the parish of Great Am well, 1930 English statute acres 
in extent; and contained, at the period of the last census, 100 
houses occupied by 105 families, constituting a population of 529, 
the majority of which is employed in agriculture. The entire 
parish contained 404 houses, inhabited by 2519 persons; and is 
4580 English statute acres in extent. 

Several coaches daily pass through the village ; and letters are 
distributed from the Hoddesdon office, whither they are conveyed 
by the Louth and Boston mail, which arrives from London about 
ten p.m., returning a little after four a.m. 


HAMPTON. 

Hampton is another favourite resort of anglers; and although not 
so celebrated as some of the stations along the Lea, is frequently 
the scene of fine sport, particularly in barbel and gudgeon fishing. 

The parish, which is embodied in the Kingston union, com¬ 
prises the villages of Old and New Hampton, the royal demesne 
of Hampton-court, and the hamlet of Hampton-wick, all of which 
are located in the hundred of Spelthorne, county of Middlesex. 
It is 3190 English statute acres in extent, and contained, accord¬ 
ing to the last census, 752 houses, which were tenanted by 918 



4 





HAMILTON H A MJ 























































































Jk * 






















, 






. 












































HAMPTON. 4jr 

families, embracing a population, including the inmates of the 
palace, of 399 2. 

The manor of Hampton, at the period of the Doomsday survey, 
was held by Walter de Saint Waleric; and toward the commence¬ 
ment of the thirteenth century was given by lady Joan Gray to the 
knights hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem. Cardinal Wolsey 
subsequently obtained from the prior of that order a lease of the 
manor, which lease in 1526 was surrendered to the king; and on 
the suppression of the fraternity the fee of the manor was vested 
in the crown, to which it has since, with some short intermissions, 
remained attached. When advanced age and increasing corpu¬ 
lency prevented Henry the eighth pursuing, with his accustomed 
ardour, the pleasures of the field, that monarch procured an act 
of parliament for forming the manors of Hampton, Hanworth, 
Kennington or Kempton, Feltham, and Teddington, together 
with several parishes on the Surrey side of the Thames, into a 
royal chase, which in 1540 was specially constituted an honour; 
and this honour, and those of Ampthill and Grafton, are sup¬ 
posed to be the only instances in the kingdom of honours not 
created from escheated baronies. The office of chief steward, 
which is exercised in conjunction with that of ranger or lieu¬ 
tenant of the royal chase, has always been conferred upon distin¬ 
guished individuals, and is now held by the Queen-dowager as 
ranger of Bushy-park. 

The village of Hampton, which is distant thirteen miles S.W. 
by W. from Hyde-park corner, is pleasantly situated on the 
northern bank of the Thames, opposite to Moulsey-hurst; that 
portion designated New Hampton consisting of a double range or 
street of neat cottages, extending for a considerable distance 
northward from the old village. 

The church, which stands near the river—being only separated 
from the bank of the latter by the road leading to Hampton-court— 
was erected in the years 1829 and 1830 upon the site of a former 
structure of red brick; William the fourth having laid the founda¬ 
tion stone while duke of Clarence, and opened the edifice for 
public worship after his accession to the throne. It is an elegant 


48 


HAMPTON. 


specimen of the transition from the decorated to the perpendicular 
style of English architecture, consisting of a nave, chancel, and 
aisles; with a square tower, supporting a flag-staff and vane, at the 
west end; and a vestry room projecting beyond the chancel, which 
is surmounted by an elegant Greek cross of stone. Each aisle 
contains five four-divisioned windows, and between these, as well 
as at the angles of the edifice, are buttresses terminating above the 
parapet in finial-crowned pinnacles. The material of which the 
church is constructed is Suffolk brick, with stone mouldings, cor¬ 
nices, copings, and pinnacles. The interior presents an appear¬ 
ance of neatness approaching to elegance, and, with the slight 
exception that the backs of the seats are coloured light grey, is 
in excellent harmony with the external character of the building. 
The chancel and aisles are adorned with many neat mural tablets ; 
and underneath the organ, which was presented by our late sove¬ 
reign, is a monument on which are represented, in statuary marble, 
the lady and maiden daughter of sir Dalby Thomas, one of the 
governors of the African company’s settlement. At the foot of 
the stairs leading to the south gallery, beneath a canopy of rich 
tracery, is a recumbent figure of Mrs. Penn, nurse to Edward the 
sixth; and on a tablet in the wall of the staircase are figures, 
finely sculptured in alto-relievo, of the wife and infant of Horace 
Beauchamp Seymour, esquire, the former of whom was daughter 
and heiress to sir Laurence Palk, baronet. The communion 
chairs, cut from one of the beams of Spanish chestnut forming the 
old roof, are exquisitely carved, after a design by dean Merewether, 
while he was curate of this parish. The north and south sides 
of the altar are respectively embellished with paintings of Moses 
and Aaron. A range of pews in the south gallery is appropriated 
to the use of the royal inmate of Bushy-park and her suite. The 
living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, diocese of 
London; the patronage belonging to the crown, and the impro¬ 
priation to the trustees of the free grammar school, which esta¬ 
blishment is now conducted in a neat gothic structure erected a 
few years ago at the eastern extremity of the churchyard. 

At a short distance east of the church is Hampton-house, 




3 
















A 





















































































































































































4 







































































HAMPTON. 


49 


usually designated Garrick’s villa, from having been the favourite 
residence of that master of the histrionic art. In the grounds be¬ 
longing to this house, and close to the river, is a temple erected 
by Garrick to the memory of Shakspeare, and formerly containing, 
in a niche immediately facing the entrance, a fine statue of the poet 
by Roubilliac. At the death of Mrs. Garrick, this statue, together 
with several other works of art which ornamented the mansion and 
temple, were removed to the British Museum, to which institu¬ 
tion they were bequeathed by their talented possessor. The 
temple and mansion form together a conspicuous feature in our il¬ 
lustration, the view presented in which is from the opposite shore ; 
beyond these the church rears its elegant form amid the foliage; 
while still more westward may be seen the Bell inn, where the 
sojourner in this delightfully retired spot will experience every 
comfort and attention that he can desire. In addition to the 
attraction of angling, the quiet beauty of the river scenery in this 
neighbourhood, forming a striking contrast to the bustling gaiety 
of the same stream at points below London, together with the 
proximity of Hampton-court palace and of Bushy, render Hamp¬ 
ton a place of constant resort during the summer months. The 
races, which are held annually in June on Moulsey-hurst, present 
another source of attraction to visitors; and from this influx of 
strangers the inhabitants derive their principal support. From 
five to eight coaches and omnibuses daily leave Hampton for 
town, some of them running through Richmond, others by way of 
Kingston; and all the Chertsey and Sunbury coaches pass through 
the village, which, in common with the whole parish, is within the 
district of the threepenny post. 

Following the course of the river eastward we pass some hand¬ 
some villas, and at the distance of about one mile reach Hampton- 
court green, which is a fine open area, bounded on the west by 
barracks; on the north and south by several good family resi¬ 
dences, with some buildings belonging to the original palace and 
now converted into stabling; and on the east by the present palace. 
This latter structure^ which occupies an extensive site on the 


50 


HAMPTON. 


northern bank of the Thames, and is considered one of the richest 
specimens extant of domestic middle-age architecture, owes its 
origin to cardinal Wolsey, who, according to the old historians, 
“ purely out of ostentation to show his great wealth,” designed a 
residence for himself in such a style of magnificence as “ to excite 
great envy at court.” The cardinal having, as before stated, obtained 
a lease of the manor of Hampton from the knights hospitallers, 
razed the existing manor-house, and about 1515 commenced a 
structure, which, in the words of Brewer, was “ more polished in 
character, and more splendid in arrangement, than had at any pre¬ 
vious period adorned his country.” Camden describes this palace 
as consisting of “ five large courts set round with neat buildings, 
the work whereof is exceeding curious; ” and Gibson, his com¬ 
mentator, says, “ the whole seems to be designed with so much 
magnificence, that when it is finished, the noblest palace must fall 
short of it.” During the progress of the work, being questioned 
by the king, Henry the eighth, as to his motives for constructing 
a mansion so far surpassing any of the regal palaces in England, 
the proud but wily prelate replied, “that he was only trying to 
form a residence worthy so great a monarch, for whom Hampton- 
court palace was intended; ” and Henry, taking him at his word, 
immediately became the possessor; granting to Wolsey “in re- 
compence thereof, licence to lie in his manor of Richmond at his 
pleasure, and so he lay there at certain times.” In the year 1527, 
the cardinal, in compliance with the command of his sovereign, 
here entertained the French embassador with a sumptuous ban¬ 
quet. A description of this entertainment is given by Ca¬ 
vendish, the private secretary of Wolsey, and conveys a lively 
picture of the splendour with which Henry conducted his state 
festivals. Two princes, Edward the sixth, and William, duke of 
Gloucester, son of Anne and George of Denmark, were born at 
this palace, within whose walls expired, at successive periods, 
Jane Seymour, Anne, consort of James the first, and Cromwell’s 
favourite daughter, Mrs. Claypole. The nuptials of Henry the 
eighth with lady Catherine Parr, and those of the protector’s 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


51 


daughter Elizabeth with lord Falconberg, were both solemnized 
with great pomp at Hampton-palace; and here queen Mary and 
Philip of Spain passed a honeymoon such as we imagine few 
brides and bridegrooms would like to anticipate. 

During the lengthened reign of Elizabeth the court frequently 
joined in the revelries of olden Christmas at this palace; and on 
one of these occasions, the poet, Churchyard, presented to the 
queen a new year’s address in the shape of “ a pleasaunt conceite 
penned in verse,” a copy of which will be found in the second vo¬ 
lume of Nichols’ edition of the “ Progresses,” anno 1593. At the 
commencement of the reign of James the first Hampton-court be¬ 
came the theatre of a very different scene,—the celebrated con¬ 
ference between the presbyterians and the dignitaries of the 
established church, and to which we are indebted for the present 
authorized version of the Bible and liturgy. This conference 
opened on the fourteenth of January 1604, and lasted three days, 
the king presiding as Moderator. 

The citizens of London having flattered the vanity of James by 
a sumptuous entertainment, and the presentation of the freedom 
of the city to himself, the prince Henry, and several of the no¬ 
bility, that monarch granted them a new charter, confirming all 
their ancient rights and privileges, and extending their jurisdic¬ 
tion to Saint Bartholomew, Blackfriars, and other places beyond 
the former boundaries; and this charter was dated from Hamp¬ 
ton-court on the twentieth of September 1609. 

During the ravages of the plague of 1625, Charles the first, 
with his family and court, retired to Hampton-palace, where, in 
1641, and again in 1642, they sought refuge from the dangers 
threatened by the insurrection of the London apprentices, and 
the king’s rash encroachment upon the privileges of the commons’ 
house of parliament. At a more subsequent period, under the 
semblance of regal state, the same monarch here suffered the 
miseries of captivity and separation from his family; and at 
length forwarded the crisis of his fate by privately departing 
hence to the Isle of Wight. 


52 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


Cromwell constituted Hampton-court one of his chief places 
of abode; and Charles the second frequently took up his resi¬ 
dence here. When the great plague of 1665 began to spread 
its contagious influence westward in the metropolis, the “ merry 
monarch” and his suite retired to Hampton-court palace, where, 
like the Florentines under a similar calamity, they sought ob¬ 
livion of fear in a continued succession of festivities. An in¬ 
teresting account of these gay doings occurs in the autobio¬ 
graphy of sir Ralph Esher, edited by Leigh Hunt; a work to 
which we have before adverted, and which the reader will find 
replete with admirable graphic portraits of most of the prominent 
characters in Charles’ strangely constituted court. Sir Ralph, in 
allusion to their retirement, says, “ we looked up to the sky, wan¬ 
dered and laughed among the alleys green; and Hampton might 
have been taken for an odd kind of bit of heaven, privileged from 
the miseries of earth. By one universal consent we seemed to 
have resolved to say nothing about the plague. Nay, if we thought 
about it, we determined to be only the more thoughtless.” 

Hampton was a favourite retreat of William and Mary, in whose 
time several portions of the present edifice were ereeted ; but since 
their reign it has seldom been the abode of royalty. When the prince 
of Orange sought an asylum in this kingdom, Hampton-palaee was 
appropriated to his use, and was occupied by him for several years. 

The present palace consists of three principal quadrangles, with 
several subordinate courts, the latter of which appear to have 
been portions of the original edifice. The structure is of red 
brick, strengthened with Portland stone, of which latter material 
most of the embellishments are formed. The chief approach is 
from the west through a three-storied gateway, flanked by octa¬ 
gonal turrets. A bay-window, separated into two series of lights 
by mullioned compartments, and decorated with the royal arms, 
occupies the centre immediately over a Tudor arch ; and is sur¬ 
mounted by a perforated parapet, from which rise several light, 
elegant, and richly ornamented pinnacles, the remaining portion 
of the gateway and the turrets being embattled. 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


53 


Passing through this portal, the east front of which is similar 
in character to that of the west, and has the initials E. R. dis¬ 
played on the face of each turret, we reach the entrance-court, a 
quadrangle measuring from north to south one hundred and sixty- 
seven feet, and from east to west one hundred and forty-two feet. 
The large mullioned west window of the banquet-hall is seen to 
great advantage on the left from this court, the buildings of 
which are divided into several suites of apartments, and occupied 
by private families by grant from the lord chamberlain during the 
royal pleasure. On the east side, immediately opposite to the 
gateway already described, is another of a correspondent, but 
more highly finished character. The bay-window in the centre 
of this gateway is very beautiful; the supporting turrets are orna¬ 
mented with busts of the Roman emperors; and the arch is groined 
and richly decorated. The reverse front of this portal forms the 
western side of the second or middle quadrangle, the dimensions 
of which are one hundred and thirty-three feet from north to 
south, and ninety-two feet from east to west. Immediately over 
the arch through which we have just passed are the arms of 
Henry the eighth; above these, on the front of the third story, 
is a curious astronomical clock by Tompion; and on the face of 
each of the turrets are displayed busts of the Caesars. Turning 
to the south, the eye is pained by the incongruous introduction 
of an Ionic colonnade designed by, and executed under the direc¬ 
tion of, sir Christopher Wren. On the eastern side is a third 
gateway, more enriched in the details than either of those pre¬ 
ceding, though corresponding with them in style; busts of the 
Caesars being again introduced on the fronts of the supporting 
turrets. The northern division is occupied by one side of the 
banquet-hall. The general appearance of this court, with the ex¬ 
ception of the colonnade alluded to, is of a superb character. 

The third quadrangle, whose dimensions are one hundred and 
seventeen feet by one hundred and ten, contains a fountain, said 
to have been constructed by queen Elizabeth about the year 1590; 
and which has given the appellation of Fountain-court to this di- 

k 2 


54 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


vision of the palace. It consists principally of buildings designed 
and constructed by sir Christopher Wren in the time of William 
the third, at which period the south and east sides of this court 
were entirely removed to make room for the present state apart¬ 
ments. These buildings are all three-storied, with a central range 
of circular windows, enriched by various embellishments and a 
mantle of stone-work, each elevation terminating in a stone ba¬ 
lustrade. The west and north sides comprise a gallery one hun¬ 
dred and nine feet in length, and the queen’s guard and presence 
chambers, each of whose interiors display remains of the ancient 
structure. A beautiful colonnade of the Ionic order, with dupli¬ 
cated columns, extends round the quadrangle, the ensemble of 
which harmonizes well with the grand exterior eastern front. 

Having thus endeavoured to impress upon the reader a general 
idea of the architectural peculiarities of the three principal divi¬ 
sions of this palace, previous to extending our description to the 
exterior fronts and the interior of the various ranges of buildings 
of which the pile is composed, we shall return to the banquet- 
hall, the chapel, and some other portions not yet described. The 
first of these, as already stated, occupies the north side of the 
second quadrangle, and its lofty embattled walls, rising consider¬ 
ably above the surrounding buildings, render it an imposing and 
majestic feature in the general view; while the ecclesiastical ap¬ 
pearance of its architectural details endows it with an air of ve¬ 
nerable grandeur. The angles of the hall are flanked by battle- 
mented turrets, and the gables are surmounted with a curiously 
pierced parapet, terminating at the extreme elevation in a pinnacle 
and vane. The side-walls, which are supported by graduated 
buttresses, and crowned with an embattled parapet, contain a 
series of fine normal windows. The interior of the hall is one 
hundred and six feet in length, and forty feet wide; and in the 
western end is the window before alluded to, which is a fine bold 
specimen of the perpendicular style of English architecture. The 
screen that formerly supported the minstrels’ gallery, occupies a 
position beneath this window; and at the east end is a space 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


55 


raised above the other parts of the floor, where it was customary 
to seat guests of distinction. A very beautiful oriel window, di¬ 
vided into several compartments by stone mullions, is inserted in 
the south corner of this elevated portion, the ceiling of which is 
of stone, groined and elaborately decorated with delicate fan-tracery 
and pendants. The flooring of the whole is of stone; the sides 
are coated with Roman cement; and the roof, which is oak, is 
open-worked and richly embellished with exquisite carvings of 
the arms and insignia of Henry the eighth, the cypher of that 
monarch and Jane Seymour united in a love-knot, and various 
other devices. 

It was in this hall that Catharine Howard, and afterwards Ca¬ 
tharine Parr, were first publicly announced as Henry’s queens; 
and here also, during the Christmas of 1543, this monarch enter¬ 
tained Francis Gonzaga, the viceroy of Sicily. On the twenty- 
ninth of December 1554, Philip and Mary gave a grand spectacle 
of jousting in this hall. George the first had the interior arranged 
for a theatre; and among the earliest of the dramatic represen¬ 
tations was Shakspeare’s tragedy of Henry the eighth; thus re¬ 
calling, in the very seat of his greatest splendour, the prominent 
events in the life of the arrogant and wily, but princely founder of 
this magnificent pile. The whole of the theatrical fittings were, 
however, judiciously removed in the year 1798. 

Near to the east end of the hall is a building now appropriated 
to the official duties of the board of green cloth, and which dis¬ 
plays both exteriorly and internally more of the character of the 
ancient structure than any other room of equal extent throughout 
the palace. This apartment is sixty-two feet in length, twenty- 
nine in width, and twenty-nine feet high, and receives fight from 
a bay-window rising the entire elevation of the building, and a 
large square-headed window with stone mullions. The ceiling is 
divided into compartments, that in the centre displaying the arms 
of Henry impaled with those of Seymour, and those surrounding 
the initials of Henry and Jane entwined in a love-knot, the device 
of the rose and portcullis, and various other embellishments, toge- 


56 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


ther with several pendent ornaments. The leading incidents of 
the Trojan war, and the fable of Hercules, are represented in ta¬ 
pestry around the walls; and over the fire-place, wrought in the 
same materials, are the arms of Cardinal Wolsey and those of his 
province. 

The chapel forms the south side of a small quadrangle, north 
of the Fountain-court, and bears external evidence of having been 
erected by Henry the eighth. According to Hentzner, the inter¬ 
nal embellishments of this chapel in the time of Elizabeth were 
of a very splendid character; but the building was desecrated, 
and the whole of the paintings and stained glass removed or de¬ 
stroyed during the parliamentary wars. The royal closet is in 
a gallery at the west end, and has a painted ceiling representing 
cherubim supporting the crown of England, over which waves 
the emblem of peace. The pews are of Norway oak; the floor 
is of white and black marble; and the roof is embellished with 
clusters of pendants, each displaying a choir of angels. The 
chaste effect of the original gothic character of the interior is de¬ 
stroyed by the introduction of gilding and colour upon the orna¬ 
ments, and of a Grecian altar-piece with Corinthian columns ; but 
there is still, in several parts of the chapel, some excellent speci¬ 
mens of carving by Gibbons. 

We now return to the exterior of that portion of the palace ex¬ 
ecuted after the designs of sir Christopher Wren between the 
years 1690 and 1694; and the first we shall notice is the great 
eastern fajade, or entrance to the state apartments. This front 
is about three hundred and thirty feet in extent, and is con¬ 
structed of red brick with stone decorations. The central com¬ 
partment is entirely of stone, and comprises an angular pediment 
displaying in basso-relievo sculpture the triumph of Hercules over 
Envy; and resting on a range of fluted three-quarter Corinthian 
columns, on each side of which rise two pilasters sustaining a con¬ 
tinuation of the entablature, the entire front term'nating in a 
handsome balustrade. 

The southern front, which commands a view of the Thames, 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


57 


and is three hundred and twenty-eight feet in length, has also a 
central compartment of stone of a less ornamental character than 
that in the east front. The entablature is supported upon four 
plain columns, and bears the inscription, “ Gulielmus et Maria 
R. R. E.”; and the parapet is surmounted by two statues in a 
line with the inner columns. 

The public entrance to the interior of the state apartments is 
from the Fountain-court by means of the king’s staircase, the ceil¬ 
ing and walls of which are embellished with allegories from the 
heathen mythology, painted by Antonio Verrio. This staircase 
leads to the guard-chamber, a lofty and spacious saloon, deco¬ 
rated with arms sufficient for the equipment of one thousand men, 
arranged in various beautiful devices around the walls of the room, 
and interspersed with portraits of several distinguished British 
admirals. 

From the guard-chamber we pass to the king’s outer presence- 
chamber, which is hung with rich tapestry, and contains some ex¬ 
cellent paintings, among which are the landing of William the 
third at Torbay, and full-length portraits of the beauties of his 
court by Kneller. Opposite to the entrance is the canopy of 
William’s chair of state, embroidered with his arms, and the Dutch 
motto, “Je main tien dray.” We next consecutively enter the 
inner presence-chamber, the audience-chamber, and the drawing¬ 
room, whose walls are hung with tapestry, representing the his¬ 
tory of the patriarch Abraham, and embellished with a collec¬ 
tion of fine paintings, chiefly by the old masters. In the latter 
room is sir William Beechey’s celebrated painting of George the 
third, accompanied by the princes, reviewing the tenth cavalry. 
The next rooms in succession, and which include the range form¬ 
ing the south side of the Fountain-court, are king William’s state 
bed-chamber, dressing-room, and writing-closet, and queen Mary’s 
closet. The two former of these rooms have ceilings exquisitely 
painted by Verrio; the subject in the first being Endymion sleep¬ 
ing in the lap of Morpheus | and that in the second, Cupid pur¬ 
loining the arms of Mars while the latter is reposing in the lap of 


58 


HAMPTON COURT. 


Venus. The state bed of queen Charlotte now occupies the first 
room, the walls of which are decorated with the celebrated por¬ 
traits of the beauties of Charles the second’s court. The furni¬ 
ture in this room was embroidered at the institution for the or¬ 
phan daughters of clergymen. The walls and furniture of queen 
Mary’s closet display some elegant needle work, said to have been 
executed by that queen and her ladies ; and the whole range con¬ 
tains, in addition to the gallery of beauties already mentioned, 
a variety of very beautiful paintings, among which are several by 
West. 

The rooms forming the eastern side of the Fountain-court are 
queen Mary’s gallery, state bed-chamber, drawing-room, and au¬ 
dience chamber, the public dining-room, George the second’s 
private closet, and the cartoon gallery. The first of these is hung 
with Gobelin tapestry in seven compartments, each compartment 
representing a passage in the life of Alexander the great after 
Le Brun. The dormitory contains the state bed of queen Anne, 
the furniture of which, and that of the chairs and stools, are 
velvet of Spitalfields manufacture; and the ceiling is embellished 
with a beautiful personification of Morning, painted by sir James 
Thornhill. The drawing-room is hung with green damask ; and 
on the ceiling, painted by Verrio, is a representation of Justice in 
the person of Anne, over whose head Britannia and Neptune are 
supporting a crown. The audience-chamber contains the state 
bed of William the third, and several fine portraits by Holbein. 
The dining-room is a spacious apartment, in which is preserved the 
model of a palace which George the third intended to have 
erected in Richmond gardens. The walls of this room are em¬ 
bellished by Andrea Mantegna’s celebrated panoramic drawing 
of the triumph of Caesar. This splendid work has been divided 
into nine large pictures, each comprising one of the groups in the 
procession originally exhibited at one view. The closet of George 
the second contains several fine fruit and flower-pieces. 

But the greatest pictorial pride of Hampton-court is the collec¬ 
tion of cartoons. These drawings were executed by Raffaelle, at 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


59 


the command of Leo the tenth, as designs for tapestry; and ori¬ 
ginally comprised a series of twenty-five cartoons, embracing the 
following scriptural subjects :— 

1. Paul preaching at Athens. 

2. The death of Ananias. 

3. The judgement upon Elymas. 

4. Our Saviour’s charge to Saint Peter. 

5. The sacrifice at Lystra to Paul and Barnabas. 

6. Peter and John healing the lame at the gate of the 
temple. 

7. The miraculous draught of fishes. 

8. The Nativity. 

9. The adoration of the Magi. 

10. The presentation in the temple. 

11. The Advent. 

12. Christ supping at Emmaus. 

13. The descent into hell. 

14. The Resurrection. 

15. Noli me tangere. 

16. The Ascension. 

17* The death of Saint Stephen. 

18. The conversion of Saint Paul. 

19. The earthquake. 

20. Justice. 

21. 22, 23. The slaughter of the innocents, in three compart¬ 
ments. 

24, 25. Children at play, in two compartments. 

Only ten of these noble productions are known to exist, namely, 
those at Hampton, being the first seven above enumerated; one 
of the compartments of the Murder of the Innocents, purchased 
by the late Prince Hoare, esq. ; and two others, said to be in 
the possession of the king of Sardinia. The cartoons, when 
finished, were sent to a celebrated factory in Flanders, where the 
seven of which we now more immediately write, after a century 
of inexplicable obscurity, were discovered by Rubens, and pur- 

L 


GO 


HAMPTON-COURT, 


chased by Charles the first for Hampton-palace, to which depo¬ 
sitory, after many subsequent mutations, they were restored 
during the late reign. Duplicate sets of the tapestry appear to 
have been made from these designs; one intended to embellish 
the walls of the .Vatican, and the other as a present from pope 
Leo to Henry the eighth of England; and these tapestries seem 
to have experienced equal vicissitudes with the cartoons. 
Prints from the Hampton cartoons have appeared at various 
periods, and there is now in the course of publication, at a very 
moderate charge, a select series of etchings on steel, by John 
Barnet, F.R.S., after the works of the great masters commencing 
with Raffaelle, in which the subject of Paul at Athens—the only 
one yet issued—is treated with excellent effect. 

Hampton-court was originally indebted for its fine gallery of 
paintings to Charles the first; and William the fourth, with that 
benevolent and amiable feeling which formed a conspicuous fea¬ 
ture in his character, added three hundred pictures to the col¬ 
lection as a further attraction to visitors, in order to compensate 
the surrounding inhabitants for any diminution of employment 
which his necessary absence from the neighbouring mansion of 
Bushy after his accession to the throne might occasion. 

Returning to the grand eastern front, we are led by a door on 
the south to the private gardens, the chief attraction of which is 
a celebrated vine of the black Hamburgh class, considered to be 
the largest in Europe. This vine spreads over an area seventy 
feet in length and thirty in breadth ; and the weight of grapes it 
bears exceeds, in a favourable season, two thousand pounds. 
North of the east front is the tennis-court, said to be the finest 
in England ; and beyond this is the Wilderness, planted by Wil¬ 
liam the third to hide the incongruous character of the northern 
side of the palace. In this wilderness is a labyrinth, the secret 
of which consists in crossing the road immediately on entering, 
and keeping the fence on the right. 

The public gardens, together with the home-park, which is se¬ 
parated from the former by a wire fence, extend from the eastern 


HAMPTON-COURT. 


61 


front of the palace nearly to Kingston-bridge. The park con¬ 
tains some fine avenues of elm and linden trees, with a noble 
sheet of water three quarters of a mile in length in the centre ; 
and the gardens were formerly embellished with some beautiful 
statuary. The whole of these latter, however, were removed to 
Windsor-castle in the reign of George the fourth ; and the now 
unoccupied pedestals, which still remain, give to the grounds the 
appearance of a cemetery; while the formal geometrical manner in 
which the walks and parterres are laid out—a style that was pre¬ 
valent during the reigns of William and Mary and Anne—mate¬ 
rially lessens the beauty of the scene. 

The palace occupies an area of about eight acres, and is well 
supplied with water, partly from conduits at Combe-hill in Surrey, 
and partly from a beautiful artificial stream, the work of Wolsey, 
called the King’s-river, which issues from the Colne near Langford- 
bridge, and passes through Hanwell, Bedfont, and the parks of 
Hanworth and Bushy. The view presented in our illustration 
is from the mouth of the river Mole, on the Surrey side of the 
Thames. 

Hampton-wick was formerly celebrated as the residence of 
Steele, who erected here a house which he whimsically designated 
the Hovel, and from which he dates the dedication of the last 
volume of the Tatler. Timothy Bennet, who successfully con¬ 
tested in a court of law with George the first the right of a free 
passage through Bushy-park, was a shoemaker of Hampton- 
wick. A chapel of ease was erected here about three years ago. 
It is an elegant structure of Suffolk brick, with stone string-courses 
and copings, in the decorated style of English architecture, and 
consisting of a nave, chancel, aisles, and south porch. At each an¬ 
gle the buttresses terminate in an octagonal embattled turret; and 
one of similar character, terminating in a short finial-crowned 
spire, surmounts the western end. The living is a perpetual cu¬ 
racy in the gift of the crown, and is in the same archdeaconry 
and diocese as that of Hampton* 

Several coaches and omnibuses, in addition to those from the 

l 2 


62 


ROCHESTER. 


village of Hampton, ply between Hampton-court ancl Hampton- 
wick and London ; and at the gates on the northern side of the 
palace is a large and commodious inn known as the King’s Arms. 


ROCHESTER. 

Rochester is a city, borough, and head of a bishoprick, situated 
in the lathe of Aylesford, western division of the county of Kent; 
distant twenty-nine miles E.S.E. from London, on the high road 
to Dovor, and in the route of the Roman Watling-street, traces 
of which are visible in the neighbourhood. It occupies a shel¬ 
tered position upon an angle of land, formed by a double bend of 
the Medway about sixteen miles above the confluence of that 
river with the Thames; being protected on the north-east by 
Strood-hill, on the south by the castle, and on the east by the 
fortified range of high ground known under the denomination of 
Chatham-lines. 

The approach from the brow of Strood-hill is imposing. 
This is the point from which one of our views has been taken. 
The noble expanse of water, skirted by the town of Strood 
on one side and the city of Rochester with its beautiful cathe¬ 
dral on the other, and bounded in the distance by the neat slate- 
roofed buildings belonging to the dock-yards of Chatham; 
the garrison and fortifications along the Lines, forming a complete 
background to the picture; and the remains, stately even in 
their decay, of the once magnificent castle on the right, produce 
an ensemble truly grand, and give to this ancient city a character 
of peculiar security. The more immediate approach is not less 
striking than the distant view. The handsome stone bridge 
across the Medway, connecting Strood with Rochester, and which 
is not visible from the point before alluded to; the busy scenery 
upon the river; and, as we pass into High-street, the elegant ap¬ 
pearance of many of the buildings, with the presence of the mili- 





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ROCHESTER. 


63 


tary, impart an enlivening gaiety to the scene, and impress the 
mind of the visitor with the conviction that he is entering a place 
containing affluent inhabitants. 

The city consists chiefly of one spacious street of considerable 
length, extending along the southern bank of a short reach of the 
Medway ; being intersected by several smaller streets ; and having 
the bridge and castle at the western extremity, and the town of 
Chatham at the east. This street forms the high route to Dovor, 
and contains many handsome modern edifices, chiefly of brick, 
with some curious antique gothic buildings. 

Rochester is generally admitted to be the Durobrovis of the 
Latins ; and Camden derives the present name from a contraction 
of that word into Roibis—by which term the place is designated 
in an ancient table—with the Saxon adjunct ceastre. Bede and 
Lambarde are both of opinion that it is derived from the com¬ 
pound, Hroffe-ceastre, the city of Hroffe, a Saxon chief of this 
place, and counsellor to Uske, one of the kings of Kent, and to 
whom the building of the present castle is assigned by some of 
the old historians. Lambarde further supposes that the surname 
Rolfe, which was prevalent in the county during his time, sprang 
from the same source. 

During the Saxon era, Rochester appears to have been one of 
the principal ports of the island ; and about the year 930 three 
mints were established here by Athelstane. The Danes fre¬ 
quently came up the river; plundered both the city and the 
church; and maltreated the inhabitants. At the period of the 
Conquest, Rochester was governed by a chief magistrate, who 
is styled Praepositus in the Textus Roffensis, a curious manu¬ 
script record, compiled by Ernulphus, bishop of this see, in the 
twelfth century. During the last-named period the town repeat¬ 
edly suffered from fire. One of these dreadful visitations occurred 
in 1130, while Henry the first attended by his nobles was wit¬ 
nessing the consecration of the cathedral by archbishop Lanfranc ; 
another broke out in 1137; and Lambarde mentions a third in 
1184, which raged with such fury that “ bothe the towne and the 


64 


ROCHESTER. 


ehurche weare in a manner holye cosumed.” The great plague 
of 1665 also committed great ravages among the residents. 

One of those cruelties for which the first Mary appeared to 
entertain a peculiar predilection, was exhibited here on the second 
of April, 1556, when two inhabitants of the county were publicly 
burned as heretics. 

Henry the third held frequent tournaments at Rochester; 
Henry the eighth, accompanied by the emperor Charles the fifth, 
visited the city in 1 522 ; and Elizabeth during one of her tours 
remained at the Crown inn here four days, after which she visited 
the recorder, Richard Watts, esq., at his residence on Boley-hill. 
A tradition exists to the effect that on Mr. Watts apologising to 
the queen at her departure for the paucity of his entertainment, 
the royal guest exclaimed, “ Satis, satis,” by which name the 
house was ever after known. Charles the second, on his restora¬ 
tion, was received and entertained by the corporation of this city 
on the day preceding his public entry into London; and his suc¬ 
cessor James the second, on abdicating the throne, fled to this 
place, whence, after staying some days, he privately departed for 
France on board a vessel belonging to one of the inhabitants. 
Rochester conferred the title of earl on Humphrey son of the 
duke of Gloucester in the year 1396 ; on the minion of James the 
first, Robert Carr; on lord Wilmot, and afterward on his son, 
the licentious earl, in the time of Charles the second; and on 
Lawrence Hyde, second son of the chancellor Clarendon. 

The city received its first charter of incorporation from Henry 
the second in 1165, which charter was confirmed and extended 
by another dated February the sixth, 1265, from Henry the third, 
exempting the inhabitants from stallage and murage, and granting 
them the privileges of a market, and the return of all writs. Fur¬ 
ther grants were made by Richard the second, Henry the sixth, 
Edward the fourth, and other monarchs, down to Charles the 
first, who conferred a charter ratifying all the preceding privileges, 
defining the limits of the city, and remodelling the corporation. 
This charter remained in force until the act passed in the fifth 


ROCHESTER. 


65 


and sixth of William the fourth for regulating municipal corpora¬ 
tions ; by which statute Rochester is constituted a borough with a 
commission of the peace, governed by a mayor, six aldermen, and 
eighteen town-councillors. The oyster fisheries in the creeks 
and branches of the Medway are under the jurisdiction of the 
corporation, which embraces a company of free dredgers, who* 
with the mayor and aldermen, form a court of admiralty for regu¬ 
lating the closing, stocking, and opening of the oyster-beds. The 
town-hall, erected in 1687, is situated on the north side of High- 
street, and is a neat structure of brick, supported upon duplicated 
stone columns of the Doric order. The interior, in which the 
local courts are held, and the public business of the city is trans¬ 
acted, is embellished with portraits of king William and queen 
Anne, by sir Godfrey Kneller; one of Mr. Watts in his official 
robes as recorder; and also portraits of sir Cloudesley Shovel, 
sir Joseph Williamson, and various other benefactors to the city. 
Behind the hall is the city gaol, divided into six wards, and ar¬ 
ranged for the reception of sixteen prisoners. The corporation 
are empowered to hold quarterly sessions for the trial of offences 
within the liberties ; a court of portmote every fifteen days to 
determine pleas and recover larger debts; and a court of requests 
for the recovery of claims under the value of five pounds, which 
latter embraces within its jurisdiction the surrounding parishes of 
Strood, Frindsbury, Cobham, Shorne, Higham, Cliffe, Cooling, 
High Halston, Chalk, Hoo, Burham, Wouldham, Hailing, Cux- 
ton, Chatham, Gillingham, and the ville of Sheerness. 

Rochester has exercised the privilege of sending two members 
to parliament since the twenty-third year of Edward the first; 
and under the boundary act of the second and third of William 
the fourth, it is constituted one of the polling places for the 
western division of the county. By the same act, the boundary 
of the borough is enlarged so far as regards the franchise, and 
now comprises the precinct of the cathedral, the parishes of Saint 
Margaret and Saint Nicholas, and portions of the parishes of 
Chatham, Strood, and Frindsbury. According to the last census, 
which, however, does not include those parts of Strood and 


66 


ROCHESTER. 


Frindsbury that have been added to the borough, the city and 
liberties of Rochester occupy an area of 6150 English statute 
acres, containing 4578 inhabited houses, tenanted by 5686 families, 
together comprising a population of 27,321. Of these, 204 families 
are employed in agriculture, the remainder consisting, in nearly 
equal proportions, of such as are engaged in trade, handicraft, 
or maritime pursuits, and of persons of independent fortune, pro¬ 
fessional men, and capitalists. 

A general market, originally granted by Henry the third in 1265, 
is held every Friday in the area beneath the town-hall; another 
for corn was established a few years ago, and is kept every Tuesday 
in the clock-house, which is a handsome brick building erected at 
the expense of sir Cloudesley Shovel; and a third for cattle is 
held on the fourth Tuesday in every month. An annual fair is 
also kept at Strood, under a grant from the dean and chapter of 
Rochester, on the twenty-sixth and two following days of August. 
The city is well provided with baths, and a plentiful supply of ex¬ 
cellent water is obtained from springs in the Vines-field, south of 
the cathedral, whence it is conveyed by pipes into the respective 
houses. The Medway affords an abundance of fish, and the 
supply of provisions, coals, &c. is ample. At the entrance of the 
High-street is an establishment belonging to the out-port customs. 
The principal deliveries here are from general store, wine, and 
east-country vessels, and from colliers. The city contains several 
spacious inns, some of which, as the Crown, the Bull, and the 
King’s Head, are mentioned as houses of public entertainment, 
and what is still more singular, then bearing the same signs, in 
records from three to five centuries old. There are several 
public reading-rooms; and a theatre situated in Canterbury-road, 
and erected by Mrs. Sarah Baker in 1791, is opened for a few 
months annually. 

From the circumstance of Rochester being not only in the 
route between London and Paris, but also the thoroughfare to 
the most popular watering places on the south coast of England, 
the means of communication in both directions is correspondingly 
frequent; and exclusively of the conveyances which are continu- 


ROCHESTER. 


67 


ally passing through, seven* coaches leave this place daily for 
London. Letters are conveyed by the Dovor mail, which reaches 
Rochester on its route from London at forty-five minutes past 
eleven p.m., and returns at thirty minutes past two a.m. 

Rochester contains several good private schools ; one of which, 
for ladies, is at Restoration-house, traditionally reported to have 
been, for a short period, the abode of Charles the second. The 
grammar-school was founded by Henry the eighth, for the edu¬ 
cation and maintenance of twenty boys, who are designated the 
king’s scholars; and was endowed by that monarch with a por¬ 
tion of the cathedral revenues ; and subsequently, in 1618, with a 
moiety of sixty pounds per annum by the reverend Robert Guns- 
ley. Several distinguished individuals received their education 
at this school, which has annually six exhibitions to Oxford and 
two to Cambridge. It is conducted by two masters, whose resi¬ 
dences, together with the school-room, adjoin the south gate of the 
cathedral precincts. Another free-school, which has the honour 
to enumerate David Garrick among its past inmates, was founded 
and endowed, in the year 1701, by sir Joseph Williamson, for 
instructing freemen’s sons in mathematics, and such other branches 
of education as “ might fit and encourage them to the sea-service, 
or arts and callings leading or relating thereto.” The founder 
was a pupil of the great Locke, and rose to eminence in both 
learning and politics. He represented the city of Rochester in 
four parliaments, and filled the several distinguished offices of 
president of the royal society, one of the principal secretaries 
of state, and ambassador to the court of France. He was in¬ 
terred in Westminster abbey. The estates left by him for the 
above charity now produce a yearly income of five hundred 
and fifty pounds ; the management of which funds, and also the 
election of the two masters, are vested, by a decree of the court 
of chancery, in fifteen governors and ten trustees. The school¬ 
room and upper master’s residence, erected in 1708, constitute 
together a handsome and spacious edifice, situated on the northern 
side of High-street, upon the site of the old east gate of the city. 

M 


68 


ROCHESTER. 


Westward of this school, on the same side of the street, is an 
alms-house founded in 1579 by Richard Watts, esq., the recorder 
previously mentioned as the host of queen Elizabeth ; in which 
alms-house six poor travellers, “ being no common rogues nor 
proctors,” may receive gratuitous lodging and entertainment for one 
night, and a sum of four-pence each person. The reason popularly 
assigned for the above apparent stigma upon the legal profession 
is that the testator during a sudden and dangerous indisposition 
while abroad, having deemed it advisable to make his will, found 
upon recovering his health that the wily man of parchment em¬ 
ployed on the occasion had endeavoured to convert the benevo¬ 
lent intentions of the client to his own benefit. The most proba¬ 
ble explanation, however, which has been offered upon the 
subject is that the term proctor is here used synonymously with 
that of procurator, the designation of the itinerant Romish 
priests who distributed dispensations to absolve the subjects of 
Elizabeth from their allegiance. The estates of this charity at 
present produce a revenue exceeding two thousand pounds per 
annum. 

On the southern side of the new road leading toward Chatham- 
line s is a neat and commodious structure, over the middle entrance 
to which is the following inscription:—“ The ancient hospital of 
Saint Catherine, founded in East-gate by Simon Pontyn, of the 
Crown inn, in this city, Anno Domini 1316; was removed to this 
spot, and this building erected. Anno Domini 1805, with a legacy 
of the late Thomas Tomlin of this city, gentleman; to which was 
added a donation by the executors of the late Joseph Wilcocks, 
esq.” This building contains twelve apartments, occupied gra¬ 
tuitously by an equal number of inmates, who each have an 
annual allowance of money, fuel, and candles. The vicar of 
Saint Nicholas, the dean and chapter, and the mayor are the joint 
patrons of this charity. The corporation have at their disposal 
annually a considerable sum, the produce of various other be¬ 
quests, which is distributed according to the intentions of the 
respective donors, in bread, money, &c.; and in each of the 


ROCHESTER. 


69 


parishes of Saint Nicholas, Saint Margaret, and Strood is a 
poor-house, erected in 1724 at the charge of the then members 
for the city, sir Thomas Colby and sir John Jennings. 

The priory was founded about the year 600, and endowed by 
Ethelbert with a piece of land, called the Priests’-field, for the 
support of a chapter of seculars. At the time of the conquest, 
the revenues of this priory had been so reduced by the incursions 
of the Danes as to be barely sufficient to maintain five of the fra¬ 
ternity. The monastery was rebuilt about 1080 by one of the 
followers of William, named Gundulphus, who subsequently be¬ 
came bishop of the diocese, and who removed the secular priests 
in favour of a brotherhood of Benedictine monks, for whose support 
he obtained considerable grants, the income arising from which was 
afterward materially augmented by private bequests. Of these 
riches, the monks were, in their turn, dispossessed on the general 
suppression of religious houses by Henry, who appropriated a 
portion of the revenues to the endowment of another ecclesiastical 
establishment; which latter was incorporated in 1542 under the 
title of the “ dean and chapter of the cathedral church of Christ and 
the blessed Virgin Mary of Rochester,” and at present consists of a 
dean and six prebendaries, six minor canons, six lay clerks, eight 
choristers with a leader, an upper and an assistant master for the 
grammar-school, twenty scholars, six bedesmen, a chapter clerk, 
an auditor, a collector of the quit-rents, a steward, and a porter. 
The dean, together with the six poor men, are nominated by the 
crown ; four of the prebends are at the disposal of the lord chan¬ 
cellor ; the fifth prebendal stall is annexed to the provostship of 
Oriel-college, Oxford ; and the sixth to the archdeaconry of Ro¬ 
chester. The appointment of the subordinate servants belongs 
to the dean ; and the election of all the other officers is vested 
in the dean and chapter. Several portions of the conventual 
buildings are yet extant, among which are the Prior’s-gate, College- 
yard-gate, and some of the prebendal residences. A code of 
statutes for the government of this new society was framed by the 
commissioners appointed by Henry; but it never received the 


70 


ROCHESTER. 


sanction of the great seal; an omission that has been the cause of 
frequently involving the dean and prebendaries in legal disputes. 

The church attached to the original priory was erected coeval 
with this structure, probably at the request of Bertha, the Chris¬ 
tian wife of Ethelbert, who made it an episcopal see, of which 
Justus was appointed the first bishop. This edifice was dedicated 
to God and the apostle Saint Andrew, and Camden designates it 
“ a stately church.” Having fallen to decay, as much from the 
effect of the intestine commotions of that barbarous period as from 
the grasp of time, Gundulphus rebuilt it at the same period 
that he refounded the priory. This second structure, according 
to Lambarde, appears to have been nearly destroyed by fire in 
1184; and it has subsequently, from time to time, suffered con¬ 
siderable despoliation from the ruthless hand of fanaticism. A 
general restoration, however, was commenced in 1825, under the 
superintendence of Mr. Cottingham ; and, during the progress of 
the works, many of the previously hidden beauties of the fabric 
have been brought to light. 

The cathedral is in the form of a double cross, and its present 
architectural character is thus described by Rickman :—“ The ex¬ 
ternal appearance of this cathedral is not very imposing. A short 
spire which covered the low central tower is now taken down, and 
a modern tower put up in its stead ; and the exterior walls of the 
nave are either much decayed, or covered by modern repairs. The 
other parts of the church are surrounded by buildings, so that little 
more than one portion can be seen at a time. The west front is a 
fine specimen of Norman enrichment, but has a very large perpen¬ 
dicular west window inserted. The nave has Norman piers and 
arches, except those next the cross, which, with most of the eastern 
portions of the church, are early English. Most of the windows in 
the nave have perpendicular insertions. There are other Norman 
portions on the south side of the church, which appear to be the 
remains of the cloisters, and some other of the usual monastic ad¬ 
juncts. On the north side of the choir, close to the east side of the 
north transept, is a tower, named after Gundulph, and which has 


ROCHESTER, 


71 


usually been considered to have been built by the architect of the 
castle, but there is nothing in the masonry or details to favour 
this supposition. The crypt is very spacious, extending under 
the buildings of the choir eastward of the great cross: its charac¬ 
ter is early English, but a portion under the north aisle may be 
considered very early in that style, if not Norman. The early 
English style of this cathedral is plain, and the composition good 
without much ornament, but having some doors and other portions 
with very good details. There is one very fine decorated window 
in a little chapel in the south aisle of the choir; and the door lead¬ 
ing to what is now the chapter-house is a curious specimen of 
enrichment in the perpendicular style. The whole of the cathe¬ 
dral, except the nave and a part of the south aisle of the choir, 
is groined, principally with plain early English groining. As at 
Canterbury, the floor of the choir is raised very considerably above 
that of the nave.” The interior contains many curiously enamelled, 
and some beautiful, monuments ; among which may be enumerated 
those of bishops Sheppy, Gundulph, and Merton, the latter of 
whom founded Merton-college, Oxford ; that of bishop Warner; 
and those of lord and lady Henniker. The screen, which sepa¬ 
rates the choir and nave, supports a remarkably fine-toned organ, 
built by Green in 1791. The bishop’s throne, erected by the late 
prelate, Dr. Wilcocks, presents a most incongruous feature in the 
internal arrangement, being a canopy supported on columns in the 
Roman style of architecture. The removal of the old altar-piece, 
at the commencement of the late repairs, developed the original 
composition of the chancel, which consists of three lancet arches, 
rising from clustered columns, and supporting a gallery faced with 
a parapet pierced in quatrefoils ; each intercolumniation containing 
a window, which has been reglazed after the pattern of a mosaic 
pavement found in front of one of the altars. The pavement of 
the choir is of Portland and Bremen stone, beautifully arranged; 
and the columns of the vaulted roof, together with several other 
portions of the edifice, are composed of Petworth marble, of a very 
rich character. At the south-west corner of the great transept is 


72 


ROCHESTER. 


a chapel dedicated to Saint Mary, in which the bishop’s consistory 
courts are now held. There are two other chapels, dedicated, 
respectively, to Saint Edmund and Saint William ; the former of 
which is situated in the south aisle of the choir, and the latter in 
the northern division of the smaller transept. The recently 
discovered tomb of bishop Sheppy, and those of bishops Merton 
and Warner, are all in Saint William’s chapel. The present 
chapter-house, which is entered by the enriched door-way alluded 
to by Rickman and completely renovated during the late repairs, 
is on the south side of the chancel, and has a library containing 
several valuable books and manuscripts of a very early date. 
Gundulph’s tower was probably designed as a place of especial 
safety for the treasures of the church; for near it is a curious 
spiral staircase leading to the roof of the cathedral, whence the 
communication is continued by means of a narrow flight of steps, 
supported upon an arch extending from the top of the staircase 
to the summit of the tower, where the entrance appears to have 
been effected. 

The deanery adjoins the south-east angle of the cathedral; and 
at the south-western corner of the precincts is a mansion, desig¬ 
nated the palace, and which probably occupies the site of the 
ancient episcopal residence. The present palace of the diocesan 
is at Bromley. On the spot where the prison of the monastery 
formerly stood is an edifice in which the official duties of the 
register are performed. 

The see of Rochester is in the province of Canterbury, and is 
the smallest in extent and value in the kingdom ; according to the 
returns made to the ecclesiastical commissioners in 1835, the num¬ 
ber of benefices belonging to it being only 94, and the net income 
£1459 per annum. 

Rochester appears formerly to have contained, within its liber¬ 
ties, exclusively of the cathedral, five churches, respectively dedi¬ 
cated to Saint Mary, Saint Clement, Saint Margaret, Saint Nicho¬ 
las at Rochester, and Saint Nicholas at Strood. The three latter 
churches only remain. According to the Registrum Roffense, 


ROCHESTER. 


73 


llie locality of Saint Mary’s church was upon a piece of land 
designated the Half-acre, situated beyond the walls at the south¬ 
eastern quarter of the city. The church of Saint Clement was 
not desecrated until after the reformation, when the parish to 
which it belonged was united to that of Saint Nicholas. Remains 
of the latter edifice are still visible at the entrance to Horsewash- 
lane, formerly called Saint Clement’s-lane. 

Saint Nicholas’ church is at the north-west angle of the cathe¬ 
dral, and is a good specimen of the perpendicular style of English 
architecture, though of a very late period. The present structure 
was raised on the site of a former one, in 1624, and consists of a 
nave, chancel, and aisles, with a square embattled tower at the 
north-west angle. Each aisle is separated from the nave by a 
range of lofty stone columns, from which the arches that support 
the roof spring. The altar-piece, presented by Edward Bartho¬ 
lomew, esq., in the year 1706, is of finely enriched oak, and of the 
Corinthian order. A very ancient font stands near the western 
entrance, above which is a gallery containing an excellent organ, 
erected, by subscription, in 1822. The church contains several 
exquisitely sculptured marble monuments. The living is a united 
vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Rochester, the bishop 
being the patron, and the impropriation belonging to the dean and 
chapter. 

The church of Saint Margaret is situated at the southern ex¬ 
tremity of the town, and comprises a nave, chancel, aisles, west 
tower, and vestry-room. The present parish of Saint Margaret 
was a subordinate district of the parish of Saint Nicholas up to 
the close of the twelfth century; at which period a separation was 
effected by bishop Glanvill, who bestowed the church or chapel 
of Saint Margaret, with all its profits, upon the hospital of Saint 
Mary, founded by him at Strood. This grant, however, was 
superseded in 1256, by a decision of pope Alexander the fourth, 
who restored the appropriation and advowson to the monks of 
Rochester; and Henry the eighth afterward settled them upon 
the dean and chapter of his new establishment. The present 


74 


ROCHESTER. 


church was raised in 1824, upon the site of one, the precise date 
of whose foundation is undetermined. It seems clear that there 
was a church or chapel in this district shortly after the conquest; 
and about the middle of the fifteenth century, we find that vari¬ 
ous legacies were bequeathed for the purpose of repairing a second 
structure, which appears then to have been in a state of great 
dilapidation. Portions of this second church are embodied in the 
present edifice. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry 
and diocese of Rochester; both the impropriation and patronage 
still belonging to the dean and chapter. 

Strood church is situated on the west side of the Medway, close 
to the London road; and, in external appearance, bears all the 
characteristics of the ecclesiastical edifice of a garrison town. It 
was erected under the sanction of an act of parliament obtained 
in 1812 ; and is a neat, plain building of flint, with stone quoins 
and copings, comprising a nave, chancel, aisles, south porch, and 
a square tower surmounted by a turret. The old church, of which 
the tower of the present structure formed a part, is supposed to 
have stood nearly seven hundred years. In the south aisle of this 
church was a small stone chapel, the pavement of which exhibited 
fragments of mosaic work. 

Strood Was a chapelry belonging to Frindsbury parish, until 
bishop Glanvill founded the hospital of Saint Mary, when that 
prelate constituted the chapel a mother-church, with the right 
of sepulture ; which latter privilege was generally the last one ac¬ 
corded to any subordinate district. The vicarial tithes and patron¬ 
age of the living were granted to the brethren of the hospital, in 
whom they continued vested until Henry the eighth suppressed 
the establishment, and transferred its revenues and privileges to 
the dean and chapter of Rochester. This body still exercises 
the right of presentation; but has always demised the entire 
emoluments of the benefice to the incumbent, upon his paying an 
annual nominal acknowledgement. The bishop of the diocese is 
the impropriator. Dr. John Harris, the Kentish historian, was 
perpetual curate of this parish. 


ROCHESTER. 


75 

The hospital of Saint Mary, or Newerk, the appellation by 
which its site is still distinguished, stood at the western entrance 
of the town, on the north side of the road ; and was founded about 
1193, for the support of a society of seculars, and endowed with 
the impropriations of the churches of Aylesford, Hailing, and 
Saint Margaret, Rochester, and the small tithes of Strood. The 
income arising from these sources was subsequently augmented by 
private benefactions; and, at the time of the suppression, the 
estates of the hospital were valued at fifty-two pounds nine 
shillings and ten-pence. The duties imposed by the founder 
upon the brethren were, that they should perform masses for the 
redemption of Richard the first, and the restoration of Christi¬ 
anity in the Holy-land; relieve the sick, impotent, and necessi¬ 
tous ; and entertain pilgrims and travellers. 

The community originally consisted of a master, two priests, two 
deacons, and two subdeacons, with requisite attendants, who were 
all exempted from the jurisdiction of both the archdeacon and the 
rural dean. Haymo de Hethe, bishop of Rochester between the 
years 1316 and 1352, made a material alteration in the character of 
this society, which he ordained should in future consist of a master 
and four brethren, who were all to be in priests’ orders ; to observe 
strictly the rules of Saint Austin; and to wear the cross of Saint 
Andrew externally. Very little of the ancient fabric of this hospi¬ 
tal is now visible, the site being nearly covered with modern 
buildings. Two gateways of Caen stone, one of which is supposed 
to have communicated with the chapel, a low arched door-way, 
and portions of a thick wall, are still remaining; and in a neigh¬ 
bouring field, designated the orchard, is a well which probably 
supplied water to the hospital, as leaden pipes of a very ancient 
character have been dug up between the well and the hospital. 

A lodge of the knights-templars of the Teutonic order was 
established here in the reign of Henry the second, and an ancient 
farm-house, called the Temple, situated on the banks of the Med¬ 
way, about half a mile south of Strood, is considered to be the 
remains of their mansion. At the dissolution of the order in 1312, 

N 


76 


ROCHESTER. 


this estate was given to the knights-hospitallers of Saint John of 
Jerusalem, from whom it was obtained by Edward the second, in 
1 325 . It afterward came into the possession of the abbess and 
sisters-minories of Saint Clare of Deny-abbey, Cambridgeshire, 
who retained it until the general suppression of religious houses 
placed it at the disposal of Henry the eighth. James the first, to 
whom this estate had been forfeited by the attainder of lord Cob- 
ham, gave it to Cecil earl of Salisbury, since whose time it has 
passed into many different families. 

Northward of Strood is the entrance to the Thames and Med¬ 
way canal, which is carried through the chalk range on which 
Frindsbury is situated, by means of a tunnel, two miles and a half 
in length. With very few slight exceptions there is no masonry 
in the vaulting of this tunnel, the whole being formed by the 
natural soil, which is rock-chalk. A horse-path extends along the 
side of the canal, and that portion which is within the tunnel is 
protected by a hand-rail; so that pedestrians may with safety 
gratify their curiosity in exploring this subterraneous passage. 

The parish of Strood, the population of which amounts to 2722 , 
is now a member of the Aylesford union; and those of Saint 
Nicholas and Saint Margaret, the former of which contains 3050, 
and the latter 5025 inhabitants, belong to the Medway union. 

Returning to Rochester, the bridge forms the next object of 
attraction. Previous to the close of the fourteenth century, the 
passage over the Medway was effected by means of a wooden 
bridge, raised upon nine stone piers, with a drawbridge in the 
centre, and a wooden tower of defence near the east end. This 
bridge was situated about forty yards northward of that now ex¬ 
isting ; and part of the foundation is still visible at low water. 
At what precise period it was erected is unknown, but Kilburn 
states that John attempted to burn it at the time he besieged the 
barons in the castle ; and in 1264* the whole of the wooden por¬ 
tions were consumed by Simon de Montford, earl of Leicester. 
These injuries, however, appear to have been speedily repaired, 
as the old bridge remained the sole land passage until 1392 , in 


ROCHESTER. 


77 


which year the present structure was completed. The new 
bridge, which is of stone, and an object of general admiration to 
travellers, was erected at the cost of sir Robert Knolles, a distin¬ 
guished general in the army of Edward the black prince. A body- 
corporate was constituted for its management; and lands have 
been at various times bequeathed for its support, which at pre¬ 
sent produce an annual revenue exceeding three thousand pounds, 
and the surplus fund now in the hands of the corporation amounts 
to twenty-six thousand pounds. About twenty years since the 
two middle arches of the bridge were removed, and replaced by 
the single arch which forms the present centre of the structure. 

At the eastern end of the bridge formerly stood a chapel or 
chantry, founded at the time of the erection of the bridge, by 
John baron de Cobham, for the use of travellers. Remains of the 
doorway and of some of the windows are still discernible ; and the 
western porch has been restored and converted into the Bridge- 
chamber, in which the records are preserved. The arms of sir 
Robert Knolles and John de Cobham, surmounted by a mural 
crown with the motto “ Publica privatis,” are displayed over the 
centre window ; and the cornice above the entrance is decorated 
with seven sculptured shields bearing the blazons of Richard the 
second and of his uncles. 

W e now come to the description of the castle, “ which,” says 
Rickman, “ claims the first notice among the castellated remains 
of Kent, from its extent, and the great preservation of many parts 
of it. The style is Norman, and it presents a fine specimen of 
the modes adopted at the date of its erection, to enable a very 
small number within the castle successfully to resist a much 
greater number of besiegers; for this, the access, the various suc¬ 
cessive gates, and other defences are admirably adapted. The 
masonry in the interior is very good, particularly that of the well, 
which is in one of its walls, and was accessible from several floors 
of the castle.” Many of the interior arches have the distinguish¬ 
ing dental moulding of the Norman style in beautiful preserva¬ 
tion. 


78 


ROCHESTER. 


The castle, or rather the remains of it, occupy an eminence on 
the bank of the Medway, a little southward of the bridge. The 
entire structure appears to have been of a quadrangular form, 
having a commanding square tower in the south-eastern quarter 
with smaller tower at the angles and other parts of the walls ; and 
being protected on three sides by a deep moat, and on the fourth 
by the river. The walls are of great thickness and surround an 
area of about three hundred square feet. The materials used in 
their construction are rough irregular stones, cemented together 
with an extremely hard composition in which a large quantity of 
shells are visible. The chief entrance was on the north-east 
through an embattled gateway, protected by outworks, from which 
a double arch communicated across the moat with the city. 

The foundation of this castle appears to be involved in some 
obscurity ; but Camden says, “ without all doubt William the con¬ 
queror was the founder of it,” which opinion is also entertained 
by Lambarde. 

Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and half-brother to the conqueror, 
held it against William the second, but was eventually sent by this 
monarch prisoner to Rouen. Henry the first granted the castle 
to the church of Canterbury, making the archbishop the perpe¬ 
tual governor. In 1141, Robert, earl of Gloucester, was confined 
within its walls, but was afterward released in exchange for king 
Stephen, whom Matilda had taken prisoner. It was much da¬ 
maged during John’s wars with his barons, who were at one pe¬ 
riod so closely besieged here as to be compelled to eat their horses. 
Henry the third and his barons had also frequent contentions for 
the possession of this fortress, and in 1382 it was attacked by the 
mob headed by Tyler and Straw. Edward the fourth repaired 
the walls, together with those of the city, after which no restora¬ 
tion appears to have taken place, and the whole gradually went 
to decay. The castle remained among the crown tenures from 
the time of Edward the fourth until the year 1610, when James 
the first bestowed it, with all its services, upon sir Anthony Wel¬ 
don of Swanscombe. It is now the property of the earl of Jersey. 




pkin.. Mar:’. ha-11 & C? C Til t & (.lie Proprietors. 1 , Cloudes.ley Terr<u'c. Islington. 










































ROCHESTER. /9 

Mach land in Kent and other counties is held of this fortress, 
whose tenure is perfect castle-guard. The receiver displays a 
banner at his door on Saint Andrew’s day, O.S.; and any tenant 
who may neglect to bring his quit-rent is liable to have the 
amount doubled on the return of every tide in the Medway until 
the debt be cancelled. 

After the subjugation of Otho, William Rufus imposed upon 
bishop Gundulphus, or Gundulph, the task of repairing, and 
making additions to, the castle; and in compliance with this in¬ 
junction Gundulph commenced the noble south-east tower, which 
bears his name, and is now almost the sole remaining portion of 
the structure. This tower is quadrangular, the corners nearly 
corresponding with the cardinal points of the compass; and it 
consists of four stages or floors, together about ninety-three feet 
in altitude, and surmounted with embrased battlements seven feet 
high. An embattled turret, continued about twenty feet beyond 
the roof of the main building, occupies each angle. In the eastern 
and western turrets are spiral staircases; that in the former ex¬ 
tending from the base, and that in the latter from the first story 
to the top of the great tower, and both communicating with each 
floor. A fine prospect, embracing several miles of the surrounding 
country, is obtained from the summit of the tower; but owing to 
the decayed state of the edifice, the attempt to gain it is some¬ 
what hazardous. The principal entrance was on the north-east, 
by means of a drawbridge and noble flight of steps leading to a 
smaller tower. An arched gateway, curiously enriched with fret¬ 
work, opened into a lobby about thirteen feet square, in the op¬ 
posite wall of which a second arched gateway, also adorned with 
fret-work and defended by a portcullis, led immediately to the 
apartments on the second stage of the building. Another en¬ 
trance was in the south-east, through a small door of great 
strength; and beneath the drawbridge was a common passage 
into the two lower apartments, which are about thirteen feet high, 
and appear to have been appropriated to the reception of stores. 
A wall, five feet in thickness, divides these latter apartments, as- 


o 


80 


VAUXHALL GARDENS. 


cending to the top of the tower; and in the centre of this par¬ 
tition is a beautifully constructed well, having a communication 
with each story. On the north-east side of the ground-floor is a 
low arched doorway leading to a vault under the smaller tower, 
which vault was probably the prison of the castle. The rooms 
of the second stage, which is about twenty feet high, seem to 
have been occupied by the domestics; and in one of the angles is 
a neat small closet, which probably was the oratory. The state 
apartments occupy the third stage, and consist of two large 
rooms thirty-two feet in height, separated by a range of three 
columns, supporting four highly ornamented arches. A gallery 
or passage extends round these rooms at about midway of their 
elevation. From these apartments we ascend to the fourth or 
upper stage, which is about sixteen feet high, and thence to the 
parapets. The roof and the floors of the building are entirely 
gone; the staircases and passages are also in a very ruinous state; 
and in the south-east and south-west walls are several fissures, 
extending from the summit to the base. The facings of the 
arches in this building are formed of stone from Caen, of which 
many of the public edifices erected at the same period were 
constructed. 

The environs of Rochester afford ample scope for the further 
employment of our pen; but having already exceeded the pre¬ 
scribed limit, our note-book of this district must now be closed 
until we have occasion to resume it for an article on Chatham. 


VAUXHALL GARDENS. 

Of the multitudes who annually resort to this Arabia Felix of our 
childhood, a very small minority, perhaps, knows aught of its 
origin and history. New localities generally owe half the interest 
with which they inspire us to the historical associations they are 
invested with; but here the enchantments of art absorb every 



VAUXHALL GARDENS. 


81 


feeling,—hurrying us on from walk to walk,—from one variety of 
amusement to another; and we stop not to inquire either what 
scenes of a different character to those we are witnessing may 
have been enacted on the same stage, or to what cause and to 
whom we are indebted for the excitement of the passing hour. 

We have called Vauxhall-gardens the Arabia Felix of our early 
years; and a “ lond of faerie” truly did it appear to us when, the 
imagination full of the enchanted groves and rose-bowers of 
eastern lore, we eagerly passed the barrier, and found ourselves 
amid illumined groves and fountains playing in beautiful unison 
with the soft strains of unseen music. Alas! that the creative 
poetry of infancy should be so readily dispelled by the stern 
realities of after-life! The cares of the world soon throw a mantle 
over our more exquisite pleasures, and dissipate for ever the 
magic influences which pervade our boyhood. Reason assumes 
her sway, and demands from us the more sedate duties of the 
man and the citizen. But even then a visit to scenes of youthful 
enjoyment has its gratification; for a happiness, though less in¬ 
tense, yet more matured and lasting than any we can experience 
in early life, awaits us in viewing the reflection of our own wonted 
buoyant feelings in the beaming countenances of our offspring. 

The first authentic notice of Vauxhall-gardens appears in a 
record of the duchy of Cornwall, dated 1615, at which time the 
property was vested in Jane, widow of John Vaux, one of whose 
daughters subsequently married Barlow, bishop of Lincoln. The 
residence belonging to the estate was then called Stocdens, and 
the grounds were designated Spring-gardens; a name which they 
retain at the present time, although more popularly known under 
the denomination of Vauxhall-gardens. The period when they 
were first opened for public resort is uncertain. A letter in 
the Stafford papers-, bearing the date of 1634, mentions the 
suppression of the king’s bowling-green at the Spring-gardens, 
in consequence of the reprehensible conduct of some of the 
visitors; but as no locality is assigned to these gardens, it is 
doubtful whether they can be identified with those of which we 

o 2 


82 


VAUXHALL GARDENS. 


now treat. Bray, the historian of Surrey, has attributed theif 
origin to the ingenious Sir Samuel Morland, who assuredly had a 
mansion in the neighbourhood in 1675; but Lysons says, “ it 
does not appear that Sir Samuel ever occupied any portion of the 
premises now known as Vauxhall-gardens.” That they existed 
as a place of public amusement at the commencement of the 
eighteenth century is, however, fully established; for the Spec¬ 
tator, No. 383, dated May, 1712, describes an evening spent 
there in the company of Sir Roger de Coverly. 

But Yauxhall is indebted for its zenith of splendour to the en¬ 
terprise of the late Jonathan Tyers, esq., who in 1730 rented the 
estate, and after expending a considerable sum in decorating the 
grounds, opened them in the June of 1732 with an Italian masked 
entertainment, under the name of Ridotto al Fresco. The novelty 
of this term attracted a large assemblage, and encouraged the 
proprietor to continued exertions for the public entertainment. 
Alcoves, embellished with allegorical subjects from the pencils of 
Hogarth and Hayman, were placed in various parts of the gar¬ 
dens ; and a handsome orchestra, containing an organ, was erected 
near the entrance. One of the principal promenades was orna¬ 
mented with a fine statue by Roubilliac, of Handel in the cha¬ 
racter of Orpheus with his lyre; and in another part was con¬ 
structed a moveable transparent representation of a mill and 
waterfall: the latter is particularly noticed in Dodsley’s London 
as a curious piece of mechanical art. Nichols gives a minute 
and interesting description of the gardens as they existed about 
the middle of the last century; and the sixty-eighth number of 
the Connoisseur, dated May, 1755, has a humorous account of 
the visit of a worthy citizen and his family to this place of then 
fashionable resort. 

About the year 1760 Mr. Tyers purchased the estate, devising 
it at his death, which occurred in 1767, in equal proportions to 
his two sons and two daughters. It is related that he took such 
delight in this creation of his fanciful imagination, that a few 
hours prior to his death he requested to be conveyed into the 


VAUXHALL GARDENS. 


83 


gardens in order to bestow upon them a farewell look. By the 
marriage of one of his daughters the property afterward came 
into possession of the Barrett family, the descendants of which, 
in 1821, disposed of it for about thirty thousand pounds to 
Messrs, Bish, Gye, and Hughes. The first-named gentleman 
subsequently retired, leaving the speculation in the hands of his 
co-partners, under whose management it still remains. 

To give a detailed survey of a spot whose internal arrange¬ 
ments are each successive year undergoing some change, would be 
to impose upon ourselves a fruitless labour, and upon the reader 
probable disappointment. We shall therefore confine ourselves 
to the general features of the place, and the nature of the recrea¬ 
tions which are there offered to the public. The gardens ex¬ 
tend over an area of about eleven acres, and are situated in the 
parish of Lambeth, on the east bank of the river Thames, a little 
northward of Vauxhall-bridge. They are beautifully laid out in 
avenues and quadrangles, formed of noble trees, illuminated by 
many thousand variegated lamps arranged in tasteful devices; 
the whole being interspersed with fountains, statuary, transpa¬ 
rencies, &c. A pavilion or supper-room, an orchestra, a rotunda 
containing a small theatre, and a large theatre occupy respective 
portions of the gardens; and in an extensive open space at the 
south-eastern extremity formerly stood a Chinese temple for py- 
rotechnical exhibitions. This temple was destroyed in an acci¬ 
dental fire that occurred here during the season of 1837. The 
view we give is from the extremity of the first quadrangle looking 
toward the large theatre, on the boards of which the Ravel family 
are displaying their extraordinary flexibility of limb. 

The gardens are opened during the summer months; and the 
usual entertainments consist of the performance of vocal and in¬ 
strumental music, burlettas, and vaulting, sometimes varied with 
panoramas, and always concluding at midnight with a discharge of 
fireworks. Among the more intellectual attractions of the last 
season were representations of the chapel of William Tell and 
of an old watermill at work, both arranged amid the foliage 


84 


HORNSEY. 


with excellent pictorial effect; and a series of tableaux vivants, 
resembling groups of classical statuary. Latterly, in addition 
to the evening amusements, the gardens have been occasionally 
opened in the morning for the purpose of aeronautical excur¬ 
sions. The most adventurous undertaking of this kind ever at¬ 
tempted was on the seventh of November, 1836, when Robert 
Hollond and Monck Mason, esqs. ascended from Vauxhall- 
gardens in a large balloon under the guidance of Mr. Green, 
with the intention of extending their aerial tour to the con¬ 
tinent. The ascent took place at half-past one, p.m., and after 
passing the night in this novel situation, the travellers descended 
at half-past seven the next morning in a valley about two leagues 
from the town of Weilburg, in the grand duchy of Nassau; thus 
having, in about eighteen hours, traversed a distance, taking into 
consideration the space gone through in variations of altitude and 
course, of more than five hundred miles. An elegantly written 
and interesting account of the expedition was shortly afterward 
published by Mr. Mason, from whose pen a history of the art of 
aerostation is about to be issued in an illustrated form. 


HORNSEY. 

The parish of Hornsey is situated in the Finsbury division of the 
hundred of Ossulstone, in the county of Middlesex, and is incor¬ 
porated in the Edmonton and Hampstead union. According to 
the census of 1831 it then occupied an area of 2960 English sta¬ 
tute acres, and contained 814 inhabited houses, tenanted by 911 
families, together constituting a population of 4856. This return 
does not, however, comprise about 100 acres of insulated property 
belonging to the parish of Saint James, Clerkenwell. 

The etymology of the place may probably be traced to the 
Saxon binoun, har~inge , signifying the meadow of hares ; for in 
public documents, bearing various dates between the thirteenth 




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HORNSEY. 


85 


and sixteenth centuries, the parish is respectively designated 
Haringey, Haringee, and Haringhay. The latter name is still 
applied to a mansion in the vicinity of the village. About the 
time of Elizabeth these several orthographies appear to have 
given place to that of Harnsey, from which term the transition 
to Hornsey is trivial. 

The village lies about six miles, N. by W., from the General 
Post Office, a little to the westward of the turnpike-road lead¬ 
ing through Southgate to Hatfield. It consists chiefly of pleasant 
suburban villas, with some elegant mansions; and is agreeably 
situated in a small valley, or rather basin, watered by the New- 
river, and encircled by verdant hills. Both in the village and the 
vicinity are some good taverns, which are the holiday retreat of 
the artisans of London during the summer months. Omnibuses 
run between London and Hornsey several times a day. 

The hamlets comprised in the parish of Hornsey are Crouch- 
end, Stroud-green, and Muswell-hill, with a considerable portion 
of that of Highgate; and the manors are those of Hornsey, 
Brownswood, and Toppesfield or Broadgates; to which were 
anciently added the manor of Farnfields or Fernefield, of which 
no site can be traced ; and that of Duckets, supposed by Lysons 
to be a misnomer for Dovets, the name of one of the manorial 
lords, and which is now considered as belonging to Tottenham 
parish. 

The manor of Muswell, although locally in the parish of 
Hornsey, belongs to that of Saint James, Clerkenwell; arising 
from the circumstance of its having been formerly the site of a 
chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Muswell, or Mousewell, and 
subordinate to the priory of Saint John of Jerusalem at Clerken¬ 
well. This chapel was much frequented by pilgrims on account 
of a mineral spring, by whose waters, according to a tradition ex¬ 
tant in Norden’s time, a miraculous cure was performed on one 
of the kings of Scotland. The chapel was probably erected upon 
some lands given to the monks of Clerkenwell, about the year 
1112, by Richard de Beauvois, bishop of London. The well, 


86 


HORNSEY. 


which is still in existence, is not now known to possess any medi¬ 
cinal quality. This manor constitutes the one hundred acres to 
which we have previously alluded. In 1546 it was conveyed 
by William and Cecily Cowper to Thomas Goldynge; and, after 
passing through various hands, about the commencement of the 
eighteenth century, came into possession of the ennobled family 
of Pulteney. 

The manor of Fernefield was transferred in 1 552, in exchange 
for other estates, by sir William Cavendish to Edward the sixth, 
and remained vested in the crown until the year 1603, when it 
was given by king James to John earl of Mar. The manor of 
Duckets anciently formed a part of the possessions of the mo¬ 
nastery of Saint Bartholomew in Smithfield; and was granted to 
sir Robert Cecil in 1547. The only mention, previous to the 
middle of the seventeenth century, of Toppesfield manor, which 
is situated in Crouch-end, occurs in its alienation in 1467 by 
John Guybon to Thomas Bryan, serjeant-at-law. In 1659 it was 
conveyed by John George and others to Nicholas Colquitt, in 
whose family it continued until 1717, subsequent to which period 
it has had frequent changes of proprietors. Brownswood manor, 
which extends over a considerable portion of the east end of the 
parish, belongs to a prebendal stall in Saint Paul’s cathedral. 
The lessee under the prebendary is lord of the manor, and holds 
a court-leet and court-baron. 

The manor of Hornsey has belonged from time immemorial to 
the bishoprick of London, whose prelates formerly had a palace 
here, the site of which Norden assigns to Lodge-hill. This 
hill is situated about a mile to the north-west of Highgate, in 
what was formerly called the Great-park, but which has long 
been converted into meadow and pasture land. The last epi¬ 
scopal act known to have been issued from Hornsey bears the 
date of 1306. At the period of the Interregnum, this manor was 
sold to sir John Wollaston, whose widow was in possession at 
the Restoration. Hornsey woods are now occupied as copyhold 
by the earl of Mansfield, whose ancestor, the chief justice, ori- 


HORNSEY. 


87 


ginally leased them in 1755; and the remaining site of the park 
is distributed among several holders. The law of gavelkind, by 
which lands descend to all the children equally, prevails in this 
manor. Hornsey-park was the seat of several events which figure 
in the annals of British history. Among these may be enumerated 
the assembling, in 1386, of the duke of Gloucester, earls of War¬ 
wick, Arundel, and Derby, with their adherents to demand from 
Richard the dismissal of his favourite, Robert duke of Ireland, 
and the earl of Suffolk. 

“ In the tyme of king Henry the sixthe,” say Lambarde, “ one 
Roger Bolingbroke (an astrologer), and Thomas Southwel (a 
canon of Saint Stephens), weare accused of exercisinge wytche- 
crafte in Harnsey-parke, by which they sought to have consumed 
the king’s parson ; hereof they were both attainted, of the which, 
Roger after that he had done penance on a high stage at Poule’s- 
crosse, havinge in open sight before him, his cheyre, swordes, 
maces, and other the nedful instruments of that occupation, was 
hanged, drawen, and quartered. Thomas died in prison. Of 
this wytchecrafte Elenor Cobham, duchess of Gloucester, was 
attainted as a partie “ for which,” according to Baker, “ though 
acquitted of the treason, she was adjudged to open penance, 
namely, to go with a wax taper in her hand, lioodless, save a 
kerchiffe, through London, divers dayes together, and after to 
remain in perpetual imprisonment in the isle of Man.” In the 
version of the chronicler two others are implicated, “ John 
Hunne, a priest, and Margery Jordan, called the witch of Eye; 
and the crime objected against them was devising a picture of 
wax in the proportion of the king, in such sort by sorcery, that 
as the picture consumed, so the king’s body should consume.” 
It was affirmed that the priests had said masses over the instru¬ 
ments which were to be used for the above purpose. The pre¬ 
sumed witch suffered death at the stake in Smithfield, and Hunne 
was acquitted. 

The ill-fated Edward the fifth was met at Hornsey-park on 
his approach to London, after the decease of his father, by the 

p 


88 


HORNSEY. 


lord mayor with a retinue of five hundred citizens ; and a similar 
array subsequently received Henry the seventh at the same place, 
on his return from a victory in Scotland. 

The waters of the New-river were formerly carried through 
part of the parish of Hornsey, by means of a wooden aqueduct, 
one hundred and seventy-eight yards in length, called the board- 
ed-river. This aqueduct was destroyed in 1776, and replaced by 
am embanked channel of clay. 

The parish church, which is dedicated to Saint Mary, and is 
the subject of our illustration, was erected in 1833 upon the site 
of a former church, which latter is supposed to have been built 
about the commmencement of the sixteenth century with the ruins 
of the bishop’s palace. The present structure is of Suffolk brick, 
with stone copings and string-courses; and consists of a nave, 
aisles, and chancel surmounted by a small cross; with a massive 
square tower of stone at the west end, supported by graduated 
buttresses, and crowned with an embattled parapet. An octan¬ 
gular turret occupies the north-west corner of the tower, which 
is the only remaining portion of the old church. The aisles, which 
are illumined by four-light clerestory windows, are supported by 
graduated buttresses; and at each angle of the east end rises a 
similar buttress terminating in a small turret. The style is nor¬ 
mal English. The chancel is lighted by a finely painted window. 
Among the monuments which adorn the walls may be enumerated 
a Corinthian pillar, supporting an emblazoned shield, raised to 
the memory of Dr. Lewis Atterbury, brother to bishop Atterbury, 
and formerly rector of this parish; a finely sculptured tablet 
commemorating one of the Muster family; another recording 
the virtues and talent of Samuel Buckley, the editor of Thuanas; 
and a small pyramid raised in 1601, by Margaret, countess of 
Cumberland, to the memory of “ Master Richard Candish, of 
Suffolk, esq.” 

The living is a rectory, under the peculiar jurisdiction of the 
bishop of London, to whom the patronage belongs. The re¬ 
verend William Cole, F.S.A., who bequeathed to the British 










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MIDDLESEX 


































































































































































































H1GHGATE. 


89 


Museum an extensive collection of antiquarian MSS., consisting 
of parochial surveys, historical anecdotes, and much other va¬ 
luable matter, was incumbent of this parish. The overseers are 
in possession of the produce of several charitable benefactions, 
and a few cottages, in which poor families are placed rent-free; 
and national schools, in which about fifty boys and an equal 
number of girls are educated and partially clothed, have been 
established here for some years. There is a place of worship 
for baptists at Crouch-end. The parish is within the jurisdic¬ 
tion of the Kingsgate-street court of requests, for recovering 
debts not exceeding forty shillings. 


HIGHGATE. 

Highgate is a populous hamlet, the greater part of which is, 
as previously stated, in the parish of Hornsey, the remainder 
being in that of Saint Pancras. The name originated in the 
erection of a toll-gate on the summit of the hill occupied by the 
town. Camden, in describing the route of the Roman Watling- 
street, says, “ it enters Middlesex towards the north bounds, 
coming strait along from the old Verulam over Hamsted-heath, 
from which one has a curious prospect of a most beautiful city, 
and a most pleasant country. Not where the road lies now 
through Highgate, for that was open’d only about 300 years ago 
by permission of the bishop of London.” Norden relates that 
the Watling-street “was in the winter so deep and miry, that it 
was almost impassable; on which account it was agreed between 
the bishop of London and the country, that a new way should 
be laid forth through the park, and leading directly to Whet¬ 
stone ; for which convenience all persons, carriages, &c. passing 
that way should pay a toll to the.bishop of London and his suc¬ 
cessors ; and for that purpose was the gate erected on the hill.” 
Upon this hill, he adds, “ is most pleasant dwelling, yet not so 



90 


HIGHGATE. 


pleasant as healthful; for the expert inhabitants there report, 
that divers who have been long visited with sickness, not curable 
by phvsicke, have in a short time repayred their health by that 
sweete salutarie air.” A gate was accordingly placed at each ex¬ 
tremity of the episcopal lands upon this new road. That on the 
west, denominated Park-gate, the author of the history of Hamp¬ 
stead fixes “ upon Hampstead-heath at the present site of the 
Spaniards ; the houses near which retained the name long after 
the gate disappeared, and it is not even yet quite forgotten.” The 
site of the eastern one at Highgate is pointed out by the well- 
known tavern and assembly rooms, called the Gate-house, which 
is shown in our illustration. The privilege of taking tolls was, 
together with the house, sold about thirty years ago, but the 
bishop still receives a small reserved rent from the estate: the 
gate has been since removed to the northern base of the hill. 

The inconvenience arising from the steep acclivity of Highgate- 
hill, over which the great thoroughfare to the north of England 
lay, led to the remedy now obtained by means of the archway. 
The original project was to form a tunnel, of about three hundred 
yards in length, through the substance of the hill; and the re¬ 
quisite powers for this purpose were granted to a public company 
by an act of parliament passed in the session of 1809. The pro¬ 
cess of tunneling had been carried on for some months, and had 
extended to about one hundred and thirty yards, when, at four 
in the morning of the thirteenth of April, 1812, the entire mass 
gave way with a dreadful crash. Fortunately the early hour at 
which the accident occurred prevented any sacrifice of human 
life. The proprietors were now induced to adopt the less danger¬ 
ous alternative of an open cutting; and as the proposed excava¬ 
tion was intersected at right angles near its most elevated point 
by an ancient road called Hornsey-lane, the archway was raised 
in order to leave the communication by this lane uninterrupted. 
The first stone of this structure was laid on the thirty-first of 
October, 1812; and the entire road was opened for the transit of 
foot-passengers and carriages on the twenty-first of August, 1818. 


HIGHGATE. 


91 


The main arch, under which the new road passes, is thirty-six feet 
high and eighteen feet wide; and above this are thrown three 
semi-arches, supporting the viaduct for Hornsey-lane, the latter 
being protected on each side by a handsome balustrade. The 
edifice, which is of brick and stone of rather a massive character, 
presents an ornamental appearance either on approaching or 
leaving London; and an extensive panoramic view, in which 
Saint Paul’s cathedral is displayed in fine relief, is obtained 
from the parapet. 

The excavation of this new road opened an interesting field to 
the geologist, from the abundance of fossil remains and other 
deposits found in the clay strata of which the hill is formed. 
Brewer, in his London and Middlesex, says, “ a peculiar resinous 
substance, not yet described by any naturalist, was dug up in 
considerable quantities. This substance emits, when rubbed, a 
peculiar odour, similar to that of amber ; it is slightly electric, in¬ 
soluble in water, soluble in alcohol, spirit of turpentine, and aether, 
nitrous acid having a similar effect upon it as on other resins. 
That found nearest the surface was partially decomposed, ex¬ 
tremely porous and earthy, filled frequently with pyrites; .that 
found deeper was more transparent, and emitted a stronger odour.” 

Higligate is associated with several interesting incidents in hi¬ 
story. The most romantic of these was the bold and hazardous 
escape of lady Arabella Stuart, cousin to king James the first, 
and who was placed under confinement at the residence of 
Mr. Conier, near Highgate; “ her only crime being,” says Ly- 
sons, “ that of marrying the man she loved, in defiance of a court 
to which she was allied.” The details are thus given in a letter 
from Mr. John More to Sir Ralph Winwood, dated June the 
eighth, 1611, and published in Winwood’s Memorials: “ Having 
induced her keepers into securitie by the fayre shew of con¬ 
formity and willingness to goe on her journey towards Durham 
(whither she was to be conducted by sir James Crofts), and in 
the mean tyme disguising her selfe, by drawing on a pair of great 
French-fashioned hose over her petticotes, putting on.a man’s 

Q 


92 


H1GHGATE. 


doublet, a man-lyke perruque, with long locks over her hair, a 
black hat, black cloake, russet bootes with red tops, and a rapier 
by her syde, walked forth between three and four of the clock 
with Mr. Markham.” Horses await them at a little inn a mile and 
a half distant, and the heroine reaches Blackwall, whence a boat 
conveys her in the night to a French barque moored off’ Lee. In 
this vessel she lingers oft' the coast, expecting the arrival of her 
husband, Mr. Seymour, afterward Marquis of Hertford, who had 
also effected an escape. A pinnace is ordered in pursuit; “ and,” 
continues the letter, “ the lady is taken prisoner, with her fol¬ 
lowers, and brought back towards the tower, not so sorrye for 
her owne restraynt, as she would be glad if Mr. Seimour might 
escape, whose welfare she protesteth to affect much more than 
her owne.” This unfortunate lady remained a prisoner until her 
death, which occurred on the twenty-seventh of September, 1615, 
four years after her commitment. 

Another leading event in the history of this place is the death 
of the great Bacon, which occurred at the earl of Arundel’s 
mansion, on the nineteenth of April, 1626. Aubrey writes, in 
his MSS., “ the cause of his lordship’s death was trying an ex¬ 
periment as he was takeing the aire in the coach with Dr. Wil- 
berborne, a Scotchman, physician to the king. Towards High- 
gate snow lay on the ground ; and it came into my lord’s thoughts 
why flesh might not be preserved in snow as in salt. They were 
resolved they would try the experiment presently: they alighted 
out of the coach, and went into a poore woman’s house at the 
bottome of Highgate-hill, and bought a hen, and made the woman 
exenterate it, and then stuffed the bodie with snow; and my lord 
did help to doe it himself. The snow so chilled him, that he im¬ 
mediately fell so ill, that he could not return to his lodgings (I 
suppose then in Gray’s inn), but went to the earle of Arundell’s 
house at High-gate, where they putt him into a good bed, warmed 
with a panne; but it was a damp bed that had not been layn in 
for about a yeare before, which gave him such a cold that in two 
or three days he died of suffocation.” 


HIGHGATE. 


93 


Sir Richard Baker, author of the Chronicle, resided in Iligh- 
gate about the year 1603; and Dr. Sacheverell, “ to whose name,” 
says Lysons, “ the violence of party has given more than a tem¬ 
porary celebrity,” died at his house here on the fifth of June, 1724. 
A large red brick mansion, situated on the descent of the hill 
leading toward Holloway, and now used as a private school, is 
said to have been a residence of Cromwell. The beautiful sub¬ 
urban retreat of the late duchess of Saint Albans in this neigh¬ 
bourhood was not less celebrated as a harbour for misfortune 
than for the elegant festivities which were frequently witnessed 
within its walls. The late Charles Matthews had a cottage in 
the vicinity of Higligate, in which was his fine gallery of dramatic 
portraits; and Coleridge, the poet, resided for many years in the 
village, and was interred in the cemetery beneath the old chapel. 

A hermitage or oratory, “ in the gift of the bishop of London,” 
anciently stood on Highgate-hill. The present rectory-house is 
assigned as the site of this hermitage by Norden, who further 
relates that one of the inmates “ caused to be made the causeway 
between Highgate and Islington, taking the gravel from the top 
of the hill, where is now a standing pool of water.” There are at 
this day some ponds in the centre of the town near to the gate¬ 
house, one of which is conjectured to be the pool alluded to by 
Norden. The circumstance of Islington being distinctly given as 
the southern extremity of this causeway, throws a doubt upon the 
supposition entertained by many, that Maiden-lane, leading from 
King’s-cross to Highgate, was the original high road. The last 
registered presentation to the hermitage bears date 1531, when 
bishop Stokesley committed the custody of the chapel, dwelling, 
and appurtenances to William Forte. Sir Roger Cholmeley, chief 
justice of the queen’s bench to Elizabeth, held this property in 
the middle of the sixteenth century, probably by a grant from the 
crown; and in 1562 founded a grammar-school and chapel-of-ease 
upon the site. 

The chapel was a small brick edifice, consisting of a chancel, 
nave, and south aisles, with a low quadrangular tower at the west 


Q 


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04 


HIGHGATE. 


end. The interior contained some curious monuments, among 
which were those of several of the deceased officiating clergymen. 
The accommodation afforded by this chapel having long proved 
insufficient for the increasing population of the village, the church 
shown in our illustration was erected on a more westerly site. On 
the completion of the latter structure in 1832 , the old chapel was 
taken down, with the exception of the northern wall, which forms 
the boundary between the rectory-house and the burial-ground. 

The new church, which is of Suffolk brick with dressings of 
stone, is a beautiful specimen of the early period of the normal style 
of English architecture; and consists of a nave, north and south 
aisles, a chancel, and a vestry-room, with a square tower at the 
west end, surmounted by an octagonal spire terminating in a rich 
finial, the spire being strengthened by light flying buttresses 
springing from the corners of the tower. The summit of the tower 
and the walls of the nave are both embattled; and the east gable 
is crowned with a parapet panelled in quatrefoils. At each angle 
of the edifice rises a graduated diagonal buttress, having a trian¬ 
gular offset in the upper stage, and terminating in a pinnacle w r ith 
crocketed cap and finial. The buttresses supporting the north 
and south w'alls terminate a little above the cornice of the aisles 
in triangular mouldings ; and in a line with these buttresses small 
square pinnacles rise between the windows of the nave, termi¬ 
nating above the battlement in a cap and finial. The aisles are 
illumined by equilateral-arched windows of two lights with hood- 
mouldings springing from corbels, and the nave by three-divisioned 
clerestory windows of a plain character. In the west end of each 
aisle is a single-light window surmounted by an ogee canopy. 
The vestry-room is at the east end, and is carried only half the 
height of the main building, in order to leave unobstructed the 
altar-window, which is of five lights with foliated heads; the upper 
division of the window, namely, that from the springing to the 
crown of the arch, being composed of perpendicular tracery sur¬ 
rounding an octagon light. The glass of this window is stained; 
the three central lights with scriptural subjects, and those at the 


HIGHGATE. 


95 


sides with lace-work. The spire, whose angles are ribbed, is 
divided by ornamented tablets into three stages, from the lowest 
of which, between each of the flying buttresses, a small cano¬ 
pied porch opens to the battlements. The tower is also of 
three stages; the upper one containing, in each face, two single¬ 
light belfry windows with an ogee dripstone, and resting upon 
a broad foliated band, in the centre of which is a clock-dial. 
The great west window, in the second stage of the tower, is of 
three lights, with cinquefoiled heads, and surmounted by an 
ogee canopy. The western entrance is beneath this window 
by a square-headed door, round the upper part of which is a 
dripstone springing from corbels, with an embattled canopy, the 
spandrels being ornamented with quatrefoil tracery. The other 
entrances are by means of ogee canopied porches projecting 
from the north and south sides of the tower, and a small door at 
the western end of each aisle. The interior is neatly arranged. 
The gallery is continued round the western end of the nave, 
and above this latter portion is the organ-loft. A range of light 
circular columns, supporting pointed arches, separates each aisle 
from the nave, whose roof rests on cast iron girders stained to 
represent oak. The north-east and south-east divisions of the 
nave are occupied respectively by a pulpit and a reading-desk, 
at the back of one of which is the baptismal pew. The whole 
structure, both in design and situation, reflects credit upon the 
taste of the architect, Mr. Vulliamy; a credit which is not di¬ 
minished by the fact that the w ork was completed for the sum 
at which it was originally estimated. 

Upon the completion of the new church, Highgate was consti¬ 
tuted a distinct rectory, the patronage of which is vested in the 
bishop of London; but although an independent ecclesiastical 
benefice is thus formed, the district remains, for all secular pur¬ 
poses, attached to the parish of Hornsey. 

A small terrace at the east front of the church immediately 
overlooks one of the cemeteries belonging to a company, incorpo¬ 
rated in 1836, for establishing public places of interment at the 


96 


HIGHGATE. 


northern, eastern, and southern extremities of the metropolis. 
The workmen are rapidly progressing with the various buildings 
that are designed to decorate this sepulchral garden, which, when 
completed, will form a highly ornamental object from several 
points in the northern suburbs. From the terrace above alluded 
to, as well as from an adjoining and more lengthened one, forming 
the western boundary of the cemetery, a panoramic view of Lon¬ 
don is obtained, nearly as extensive as, and much more pleasing 
than, that presented by the summit of the archway. 

The present grammar-school is a substantial edifice of brick 
with stone dressings, situated near to the rectory-house and ad¬ 
joining the high-road, from which latter it is separated by a high 
wall, the outer entrance being through a handsome arched door¬ 
way of stone. On the report of the commission of inquiry ob¬ 
tained upon a motion of lord Brougham, the affairs of this 
school were, upon a petition from the inhabitants, referred to a 
master in chancery, under whose decree the objects of the cha¬ 
rity have been extended, and the duties of master prospectively 
separated from those of the clergyman, in whom they have hitherto 
been blended. On the departure of the present incumbent to 
take possession of another living to which he has recently been 
appointed a distinct mastership will be established by the trustees. 

A stone, raised in 1821, near the southern base of the 
hill, points out the reputed spot on which the runaway Whit¬ 
tington sat to ruminate on his present misfortunes and future 
destiny; and nearly opposite to this stone, but on the east side 
of the archway road, an instance of his beneficence, after he 
had risen to wealth and the highest civic honours, displays itself 
in a pile of neat almshouses, founded in 1424 in compliance 
with his will. These almshouses were originally erected close 
to the church of Saint Michael Paternoster, in the city of 
London, whence they were a few years ago appropriately re¬ 
moved to their present site. The charity is possessed of consi¬ 
derable property; the original endowment of sir Richard Whit¬ 
tington having been augmented by several subsequent bequests. 











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HIGHGATE. 


97 


The government of the institution belongs to the company of 
mercers, and a special visitatorial power is vested, by the will of the 
founder, in the lord mayor of London for the time being. The 
almshouses occupy the north, east, and south sides of a quadrangle 
separated from the road by a handsome iron railing. A statue 
of Whittington is placed in the middle of the area, which is orna¬ 
mentally planted. The buildings are stuccoed, with slated roofs; 
and comprise a centre with detached wings. The doors and 
windows are square-headed, having a dripstone with plain return 
around each ; the main walls are surmounted by a plain parapet; 
and the gables and buttresses at the extremities of each range, 
respectively, are ornamented with crocketed pinnacles terminating 
in highly enriched finials. The monotony of the lengthened lines 
of parapet and mouldings in the eastern range is judiciously 
broken in the centre by the west gable of a small though hand¬ 
some chapel. The pointed gable w ith its pinnacled buttresses; 
the window, which is of three lights, w'ith normal tracery; and 
the lantern, rising from the centre of the chapel, and crowned 
with an octangular pinnacle and enriched finial, give together an 
elegant finish to the entire pile. The spandrels in both the door 
of the chapel and those at the western extremity of each wing 
are beautifully enriched with tracery surrounding the initials 

Highgate possesses several minor local charities ; and the build¬ 
ing now known as the Flask-inn is supposed formerly to have 
been a hospital or almshouse belonging to the poor inhabitants. 
There are places of worship here for various classes of noncon¬ 
formists. 

A custom, now obsolete, and for which no certain origin has 
been assigned, was long prevalent at the various inns in the vil¬ 
lage. This was the administration, upon a pair of horns, of a 
burlesque oath to every stranger on his first visit. Of this cere¬ 
mony, Hone, in his Every-day-book, gives a detailed account, 
which he accompanies with some of the legendary sources of the 
custom. 


98 


LEATHERHEAD. 


As in the case of every other locality in the vicinity of the me¬ 
tropolis, the public conveyances between Highgate and London 
are numerous. The most pleasing approach to the village is by 
a road, which diverges from that leading to Hampstead at the 
foot of Park-street, Camden-town, and passing thence through 
Kentisli-town, winds round the hill, entering the village at its 
western extremity. From several parts of this road, which has 
various ramifications, by which Highgate may be gained almost 
at any required point, the beautiful new church is seen rising in 
bold relief amid the foliage. The neighbourhood, more particu¬ 
larly that portion situated between Highgate and Hampstead, 
abounds in rural walks and pleasing objects. These have fre¬ 
quently called into action the pencil of the artist, and need only 
to be visited to convince us how little they deserve the epithet so 
plentifully bestowed upon them by those who have never given 
themselves the trouble to wander out of the dusty road, or turn 
their vision from the unsightly mass of brick and plaster which 
prevails in the more immediate outskirts of the metropolis. 


LEATHERHEAD. 

The parish of Leatherhead is situated in the second division of 
the hundred of Copthorne, western district of the county of 
Surrey; and extends over an area of 3250 English statute acres. 
The number of inhabited houses in 1831 was 294, and these were 
occupied by 322 families, constituting an aggregate population of 
1724, chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits. Under the pro¬ 
visions of the Poor Law Amendment Act, the parish has been 
embodied in the Epsom union. 

The village of Leatherhead is agreeably situated at the inter¬ 
section of the roads leading from Ashtead to Bookliam, and from 
Kingston-upon-Thames to Dorking, at the distance, S.W. by S., 
of eighteen miles and a half from Westminster-bridge, and nine- 






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LEATHERHEAD. 


99 


teen miles and a half from the standard on Cornhill. The prin¬ 
cipal street ranges along the eastern bank of the Mole, leading 
immediately into the celebrated beautiful vale of Mickleham. 
It is a place of considerable antiquity, and at one period pos¬ 
sessed the privilege of a market, which, however, has been long 
disused. On the tenth of October annually, in a field northward 
of the town, is held a fair deserving of record, from the following 
association with which it is invested. The celebrated Madame 
d’Arblay, during her residence at Camilla Lacy, a sequestered 
retreat in the valley, in conjunction with some of her fair neigh¬ 
bours established a bazaar at this fair, where they personally 
superintended the sale of various fancy articles of their own ma¬ 
nufacture, appropriating the proceeds to purposes of benevolence ; 
and from this circumstance the festival became, and for a length 
of time continued to be, a fashionable resort for the nobility and 
gentry throughout the district. With the departure of the at¬ 
tractive authoress, the influence of her example gradually ceased, 
and of late, on this anniversary, instead of the green lanes of 
Leatherhead being filled with gay equipages, no vehicle is seen 
but the tinselled itinerant show—no sound is heard, after 
the trifling business of the day is concluded, save that of the 
boisterous revelry of the inebriated peasant. Although it may 
be argued that the time expended at these places of periodical 
resort—now too frequently scenes of dissipation and of crime- 
might be more profitably occupied by the lower classes, we must 
reflect that the human mind requires relaxation from toil. These 
are the only recreations within the reach of the English labourer; 
and scenes of riot they will continue, so long as the upper orders 
of society in this country withhold that influence and example of 
a taste for more innocent enjoyments which an occasional inter¬ 
mixture with their humbler fellow-creatures would instil. 

The lord-chancellor Jefferies resided in 1688 at the Mansion- 
house, in Church-street, which in 1710 was rebuilt by Dr. Ake- 
hurst, afterward passed into the possession of the Gore family, 

R 


100 


LEATHERHEAD. 


and is now occupied by colonel Spicer. It is reported that Jef¬ 
feries was captured in this house on the flight of the king ; but 
Burnet says that he was taken at a small public-house near King 
Edward’s Stairs, in Wapping. 

At the western extremity of the town is a little road-side inn, 
still corresponding in appearance with its representation in an 
old print, and which is celebrated by Skelton, the poet-laureate 
to the seventh and eighth Henries, in a poem styled, “ The tun¬ 
ning of Elynor Rumming, the famous ale-wife of England,” whose 
“ wonning is in a certain stede beside Lederhede.” Descendants 
of this woman appear by the parish-register to have retained the 
house for more than a century after her death. 

Immediately beyond, the river Mole is crossed by a bridge of 
brick with stone copings, consisting of fourteen arches, every 
third pier terminating in a quadrangular recess. 

The church, dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas, and 
said to have been founded by Edward the first, is a cruciform 
structure of flint and stone coated with cement; and consists 
of a chancel, nave, aisles, transepts, a north-west porch, and 
a square tower terminating in a cross and vane, and having an 
octangular turret at the north-east corner. A large window, now 
filled up, occupies the second stage of the western face of the 
tower, and beneath this is the principal entrance. Three of the 
windows in the body of the church are neat specimens of the 
decorated, and one is of the perpendicular, style of English 
architecture. The east window is ornamented with stained glass; 
and one of those in the south aisle has compartments of the same 
material, representing respectively, Saul conversing with the 
spirit of Samuel, Death on the pale horse, the head of John the 
baptist, the crown and badge of France, and the arms of a bishop- 
rick. The compartments were presented by the late reverend 
James Dallaway, the celebrated antiquary, who was for some 
time the incumbent of this parish. The interior, which is small, 
contains monuments to admiral sir James Wishart; lieutenant- 


LEATHERHEAD. 


101 


general Francis Langston; lieutenant-general Humphrey Gore, 
governor of Kinsale ; to the lady of the honourable brigadier- 
general Thomas Pagett, commander-in-chief of the British forces 
in Minorca; and to Miss Harriet Mary Cholmondeley, grand¬ 
daughter to the earl of Cholmondeley, who was killed by the 
overturning of her ,carriage, while attending the princess of 
Wales to Norbury-park, in 1806. The nave is separated from 
each aisle by three arches springing from alternate circular and 
octagonal columns, and from the chancel by a fine carved per¬ 
pendicular screen, above which is a rude painting, representing 
Moses and Aaron supporting the tables of commandment, sur¬ 
mounted by the royal arms of England. The pulpit, which is of 
carved oak, projects from the north-easternmost of these pillars; 
and beneath the south-western arch is an octangular font. Gal¬ 
leries extend along the aisles and the west end of the nave, in 
the latter of which is a small organ presented in 1830. In one of 
the transepts is a chauntry enclosed within a carved wainscot; 
and near the altar are a piscina and subsellia, the latter of which 
were formerly used on the visitations of the Augustine canons 
of Leeds, to whom the impropriate tithes of the parish were 
granted in 1346. 

The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Surrey and 
diocese of Winchester, both the patronage and impropriation 
belonging to the dean and chapter of Rochester. 

Near the church is an old building of the period of Elizabeth, 
distinguished by the appellation of the Church-house, and which 
probably was formerly used for the transaction of parochial busi¬ 
ness. The present vicarage-house adjoins the mansion previously 
alluded to as the supposed residence of judge Jefferies. A fund 
producing \5l. per annum was left in 1796 for purposes of edu¬ 
cation, and has been applied to a national school at present 
carried on in the church. At the lower part of the town is a 
place of worship for dissenters. Letters are conveyed from 
London by the Portsmouth mail to Kingston, and thence by mail 

r 2 


102 


DORKING. 


cart: the delivery is at eight a.m. and the departure at nine p. m. 
The posting-inn is the Swan, and Dorking, Guildford, and 
Worthing coaches pass through Leatherhead several times 
during the day. 


DORKING. 

Dorking is situated at the southern extremity of the vale of 
Mickleham, upon one of the high roads to Worthing and Ports¬ 
mouth; and is distant, S.S.W., twenty-three miles from West- 
minster-bridge, and twenty-four miles from the standard on 
Cornhill. The town, which consists of a main thoroughfare of 
considerable width with two smaller streets branching from it, 
has a neat and cleanly appearance, and contains several elegant 
shops, with some private dwellings of a superior character. The 
streets are paved and lighted by gas, and the inhabitants have an 
ample supply of excellent water, as well from springs which 
abound in the vicinity, as from water-works on a small stream 
branching from the river Mole, and to which latter establishment 
are now attached subscription baths. Dorking is one of the 
polling places for the western division of Surrey. 

A fair, granted by Edward the first, is kept annually on 
the eve and day of the feast of Ascension; and a market for 
corn and poultry is held weekly on Thursday, and is plen¬ 
tifully supplied and well attended. The poultry of this dis¬ 
trict, which is of a peculiar breed, said to have been originally 
introduced by the Romans, is remarkably fine and in great re¬ 
quest by the London dealers. The lime made in the neighbour¬ 
hood is held in much esteem, and constitutes a considerable 
branch of the local trade. The Reigate bank has a branch office 
in this town; a savings’ bank, established a few years since, under 
the encouragement and support of the neighbouring gentry, is in 





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DORKING. 


103 


a very prosperous state; and a provident institution, founded 
about 1818, has been attended with an equally favourable result. 
The posting inns are the Red Lion and the White Horse, beside 
which are several comfortable market taverns. Four local coaches 
ply daily between Dorking and London, and several from Wor¬ 
thing, Guildford, and other places, pass through the town. Let¬ 
ters are conveyed by a mail-cart to Kingston, where they join 
the Portsmouth mail. The office closes at nine p.m. and the 
delivery is at eight a.m. The market-house, which adjoined the 
Red Lion inn, was taken down some years since, and has not been 
rebuilt. 

Near to the same site formerly stood a large mansion of red 
brick, erected in the Dutch style; and which, after remaining for 
a very considerable period under the fostering care of the court 
of chancery, with the usual concomitant advantages to the edifice 
of such possession, was at length sold and converted into a range 
of commodious dwellings. Beyond these, on the same side of the 
street, is a pile of buildings originally occupied as an extensive 
and much-frequented inn, bearing the sign of the King’s Head, 
and celebrated for river-fish dinners, in which water-souchy formed 
a prominent dish. Fortune, however, subsequently transferred 
her favours to the Red Lion, where a convivial society, called 
the Gentlemen’s Dorking Club, was formed, and behind which an 
elegant ball-room was erected in 1820. 

Dorking possesses an excellent circulating library, a book 
club, and a magazine society, in the establishment of which 
latter class of intellectual entertainment this place claims priority 
among southern provincial towns. A mechanics’ institute, founded 
here within a few years past, has now risen to the dignity of a 
literary and scientific association; and from a local printing 
establishment, a new history of the county by Messrs. Timbs and 
Britton is shortly to be issued. The town contains places of 
worship for the society of Friends and the class of dissenters 
denominated Independents. Dorking is one of the six parishes 
in the county of Surrey, for the relief of whose poor 6000/. was 


104 


DORKING. 


bequeathed by Henry Smith in 1627; in addition to which 
fund a considerable sum is annually expended in relieving the 
wants of the indigent inhabitants ; and schools for the free edu¬ 
cation of their children are liberally supported. 

The old church, dedicated to Saint Martin, was a cruciform 
structure of flint and stone, in the perpendicular style of English 
architecture, with a low square tower, from the centre of which 
rose a flag-staff and vane. This edifice having been found insuf¬ 
ficient for the increasing population of the parish, the present 
structure of Suffolk brick with stone dressings, represented in our 
illustration as it appeared during the progress of its erection, was 
opened in the month of July, 1837. In order to avoid the expense 
of obtaining an act of parliament, which would have been requisite 
had an entirely new church been erected, the old chancel was left 
standing, and now forms a baptistery attached to the eastern end 
of the new edifice, which consists of a nave and aisles, a south 
porch, north and south transepts, and a chancel, with a square 
embattled tower, having a pinnacle rising from each angle, and 
surmounted by an octagonal spire terminating in a nave. The 
tower contains a fine chime of bells, taken from the original 
steeple. The pulpit is beautifully enriched with carving; 
and the new font is emblazoned with the arms of the diocese 
and of several of the neighbouring gentry who contributed 
largely to the building. The old font has been placed in 
the baptistery previously alluded to, the eastern window of 
which displays some exquisite tracery. The family tomb of the 
duke of Norfolk is beneath the north transept, adjoining to 
which, exteriorly, is a small mausoleum, now in a state of great 
dilapidation, belonging to the Talbots, formerly proprietors of 
Chart-park, which estate is now annexed to Deepdene, the seat 
of Henry Thomas Hope, esquire, M.P. The interior of the 
church contains a monumental tablet to Abraham Tucker, the 
author of the Light of Nature Pursued, and who resided at Betch- 
worth-castle; another to the memory of the celebrated scholar 
Jeremiah Markland, who resided at Milton-court; and a third, 


DORKING. 


105 


raised by public subscription among the inhabitants, commemo¬ 
rating the public and private virtues of George William, earl of 
Rothes, who died suddenly while hunting in Betchworth-park in 
1817. His lordship’s favourite residence was at Shrub-hill in the 
vicinity of the town: his remains were interred in the church of 
Wotton, where an elegant tablet was raised to his memory by the 
countess. 

The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Surrey and 
diocese of Winchester ; the duke of Norfolk being the patron, 
and William Coleman, esquire, the impropriator. 

An old mansion at the extremity of West-street, designated 
Sondes-place from having formerly been the residence of the 
ancient family of that name, is at present appropriated as the 
vicarage-house. Mason wrote his Treatise on Self-knowledge, 
and several other works, while pastor of a dissenting congregation 
in this town ; and the house in which he resided is still standing. 

The parish of Dorking is situated in the second division of 
Wotton, now called Dorking, hundred, western district of the 
county of Surrey, and extends over an area of 10,150 English 
statute acres. According to the last census, it contained 848 in¬ 
habited houses, which were tenanted by 933 families, constituting 
a population of 4711 ; and under the provisions of the act for 
amending the poor laws of England and Wales it has been made 
the head of an union comprising the several parishes of Dorking, 
Abinger, Capel, Effingham, Mickleham, Ockley, Ewhurst, and 
Wotton. The union-house is now in the course of erection at 
Dorking. 

Previous to, and for a considerable period after the conquest, 
the manor of Dorking appears to have been vested in the crown. 
It then passed into the possession of the earls of Warren, from 
whom it came to the family of the Fitzalans, earls of Arundel, and 
thence in part, by marriage in 1415, to Mowbray, duke of Nor¬ 
folk, whose descendant, the present duke, is lord of the entire 
manor. The custom of Borough English, by which the youngest 
son or youngest brother inherits, prevails in the manor. 


106 


DORKING. 


The name of the place is written in old records Dorchinges, an 
appellation supposed to be derived from compounding the ancient 
British word dur or dor with the Saxon name wicingas, together 
signifying dwellers among the waters, in allusion to the town being 
situated amid sand-hills abounding with springs. Gibson, in his 
additions to Camden, says “ Darking is memorable for a very 
large camp near Holmsbury-hill, and not far from the road be¬ 
tween Darking and Arundel. It is double-trenched and deep, 
containing by estimation about ten acres at the least.” Traces 
are still visible both of this fortification and another known under 
the denomination of Hanstiebury, which latter is at the extremity 
of the parish in the direction of the Roman causeway called the 
Stane-street. This road is supposed to have led from Arundel 
to London, passing in its route through Dorking church-yard. 

From the parish register, which commences in 1538, we learn 
that between the years 1625 and 1669 the county assizes were 
held here several times, and that the place of execution for cri¬ 
minals on these occasions was in Sandy-lane at the southern end 
of the town. The quarterly sessions also appear to have been 
formerly held occasionally in the town-hall. 

The beauty of the scenery around Dorking, particularly that 
of the vale of Mickleham, and that between Dorking and Rei- 
gate, has procured for the district the appropriate appellation of 
the garden of Surrey, and has called forth the warm eulogiums of 
various writers. The entire parish abounds in elegant seats, the 
bare enumeration of which would so far exceed our limits, that we 
are reluctantly compelled to confine our pen to the foregoing 
sketch of the town; referring our readers to a very neat descrip¬ 
tion of the neighbouring attractions entitled, A Picturesque Pro¬ 
menade round Dorking,—a small work that will afford them ample 
food for a more minute investigation. 









* 




MAIL]L OIF issma©as, COLOSSEUM 

.REGENTS PARK 







































































































































































































































































HALL OF MIRRORS. 


107 


HALL OF MIRRORS. 

The Hall of Mirrors is a recent addition to the buildings of the 
Colosseum in the Regent’s-park, originally erected, in 1824, for 
the exhibition of Mr. Hornor’s panoramic view of London and 
its environs, and purchased in 1835 by Mr. Braham, who opened 
this splendid hall to the public with a grand festival on the ninth 
of July in the same year. 

The Hall is approached at one extremity by an entrance from 
Albany-street, near which are folding doors opening into an ele¬ 
gant and spacious theatre; and at the other it has communication 
with the interior of the building. It is of rectangular form, and is 
divided into a grand central area, by a range of four Corinthian 
columns on each side, the shafts of which, terminating in gilded 
capitals in the richest style of that order, and supporting a deep 
and highly embellished cornice, are empanelled with looking glass, 
ornamented at the angles with gilded mouldings and tracery. 
Around the central area, is an unobstructed walk between the 
walls and the columns, opposite to which are pilasters of corre¬ 
sponding character supporting a cornice of similar design, con¬ 
tinued round the whole of the hall. The walls are panelled with 
looking glass in compartments, which, when the hall is lighted up 
at night, conceal the windows, and in the day-time are withdrawn 
to admit the light; and between the compartments are delicately 
and tastefully embellished in panels, with scroll ornaments, into 
which are introduced foreign birds, of various plumage and in 
almost infinite variety, exquisitely painted on a light ground by 
Crace. At each end are three splendid mirrors reaching from 
the floor to the cornice, severally corresponding in breadth with 
the central and lateral areas of the hall, and between them are 
folding doors ornamented like the walls. The ceilings are em¬ 
bellished with paintings of the same character; and from that 
of the central area, which is panelled in three compartments, are 

s 


108 


VIEW FROM CHELSEA FIELDS. 


suspended three brilliant chandeliers of richly cut glass, and two 
of smaller dimensions hang from the ceilings of the lateral areas. 
In the centre of the floor are ranged three apparatus for the in¬ 
troduction either of hot or cold air to regulate the temperature 
of the hall, concealed by an arrangement of evergreens and aro¬ 
matic plants, and circular couches of green damask; and around 
the whole of the room are seats of corresponding character. The 
hall is usually opened on ball nights as a promenade, and also 
when performances take place at the theatre. 

Nothing can exceed the brilliant splendour of the hall when 
lighted up for the admission of the public; the endless redupli¬ 
cations of reflection from the mirrors give it an appearance of in¬ 
terminable extent in every direction, and the various coloured 
dresses of the company, which assumes the appearance of a 
countless multitude in constant motion, produces an impression of 
grandeur, magnificence, and beauty which cannot be adequately 
described. The whole scene is one effulgent blaze of splendour, 
perpetually changing as the spectator varies his position, and pre¬ 
senting new combinations of elegance and beauty in endless suc¬ 
cession, exceeding the most florid descriptions of oriental magni¬ 
ficence, and realizing the most brilliant romances of fairy enchant¬ 
ment. G. H. 


VIEW FROM CHELSEA FIELDS. 

The spot from which this view is taken, was for many ages an 
open tract of champaign land, known by the appellation of the 
Five Fields ; and till towards the conclusion of the last century, 
continued to form a wide and uninhabited interval between the 
metropolis and the village of Chelsea. 

Within the last thirty years, and more especially within the last 
ten, a populous neighbourhood has arisen, which, for its extent 
and the elegance of its buildings, has, under the auspices of the 






















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VIEW FROM CHELSEA FIELDS. 


109 


marquess of Westminster, given to the previously unpretending 
hamlet of Pimlico an importance of character which is rapidly 
rising into successful competition with the most fashionable and 
distinguished portions of the western metropolis. Among the 
earlier of the buildings erected on this site are. Upper and Lower 
Belgrave-places, with various streets leading into Ebury-street, 
which extends in a nearly parallel direction from the gardens of 
the new palace to Sloane-square. Numerous wharfs and docks 
have been constructed on the shores of an inlet from the Thames, 
for the convenience of the great commerce which, within the last 
few years, has been established on this once solitary and unfre¬ 
quented spot; and the remaining surface of these once verdant 
fields is now intersected by the foundations of new streets leading 
down to the river and stretching along its northern bank to 
Chelsea College. The comparatively recent erection of Vauxliall- 
bridge has contributed largely to increase the population of this 
district, which, from its proximity to the parks and palaces of the 
metropolis, is beginning to abound with magnificent mansions. 
Among the more recent of the improvements in this district, 
are Eaton and Belgrave-squares, with numerous handsome ranges 
of houses on both sides of the King’s-road, terminating at one 
extremity with Belgrave chapel, a handsome modern structure in 
the Grecian style. Our view presents in the distance a variety 
of objects, of which the most prominent and striking are the 
towers,nave, south transept, and choir of the venerable and stately 
abbey, with the rich facade of Henry the seventh’s chapel, which, 
here display themselves with admirable effect: on the right are seem 
three of the towers of St. John’s church, and the stately dome 
of St. Paul’s cathedral; on the left are St. Martin’s church, the 
York column, and other objects which will be easily recognised. 
In the intermediate distance are the gas-works, with part of the 
penitentiary at Millbank ; and the fore-ground presents a remain¬ 
ing portion of the fields, with the machinery and process of the 
work which is rapidly going on for their complete annihilation. 

G. H. 


no 


VIEW FROM THE YORK COLUMN. 


VIEW FROM THE YORK COLUMN. 

The column from the gallery of which this view is taken was 
erected in 1833 in honour of His Royal Highness the late Duke 
of York ; and occupies the site of Carlton-palace, terminating the 
view from Regent-street. It is of pale red granite; and though 
divested of the sculptured ornaments which decorate Trajan’s 
pillar at Rome, is exactly after the same model. The column, 
which is one hundred and fifty feet high, is seen to the greatest 
advantage from St. James’s Park, into which a triple flight of stone 
steps, descending from its base, affords an entrance opened by direc¬ 
tion of His late Majesty King William the fourth. On a pedestal 
rising from the abacus is a colossal statue in bronze of His Royal 
Highness, finely executed by Westmacott; the figure fronts the 
Horse Guards, probably with a design to connect the memory of 
the late Duke more intimately with that institution over which he 
presided for so long a period with honour to himself and benefit 
to the service. In almost every view of London, this column 
forms a conspicuous object; it is seen from most of the bridges 
in combination with the Abbey, the Hall, and many of the public 
buildings in Westminster; and through various openings in the 
public thoroughfares of the metropolis, the statue breaks in upon 
the view above the summits of the intervening buildings which 
conceal the base and lower part of the column. The view towards 
the south comprehends in the foreground, the malls leading from 
the parade to the new palace, with the water and shrubberies 
within the inclosed area of the park ; on the east and south are 
the Admiralty office, the Horse Guards, the Treasury, the 
state-paper office, and other public offices; to the south are 
Westminster Hall, St. Margaret’s church, the Abbey, the towers 
of St. John’s church, and various other buildings in that part of 
the city of Westminster; and in the extreme distance eastward 
are seen the towei^ of Lambeth Palace on the opposite side of 
the Thames. G. H. 



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RICHMOND. 


ill 


RICHMOND, 

To the lover of beautiful woodland scenery, whose inclination 
may lead him to seek the gratification of that feeling within a 
short distance of the metropolis, we know not a more delightful 
ramble than that through Richmond and Twickenham. The 
classic associations with which both these places are invested, and 
the rich landscape produced by that happy combination of masses 
of luxuriant foliage, with sylvan lawns, elegant mansions, and the 
graceful winding of the silvery Thames which prevails throughout 
this locality, render it one of peculiar interest and attraction. 
Richmond-hill, in particular, has been a favourite theme with 
descriptive writers both in prose and poetry ; perhaps no other 
spot in England has been so frequently eulogized; and cer¬ 
tainly the view westward, from various points of this eminence, 
one of which has been selected by our Apelles, is exquisitely 
beautiful. Sir Walter Scott’s description of this scene in the 
Heart of Mid Lothian, wherein he says “ the beauty of English 
landscape is here displayed in its utmost luxuriance,” will be 
familiar to our readers. The scene of the interesting interview 
between Jeanie Deans and the queen is laid by sir Walter in the 
park. 

The ancient name of Richmond, according to Leland, Lam- 
barde, Camden, Aubrey, and others, was Schene or Shene, an 
appellation signifying bright or splendid, and which we may 
readily conceive to have been given as appropriate to the 
beauties of the place. 

The earliest mention of a royal mansion here occurs in a 
record among the Harleian MSS., which states that Henry the 
first granted his house at Shene, together with the manor attached, 
to Belet, his chief butler, whose descendants appear to have re¬ 
tained both the office and the manor up to the time of the third 
Henry. The manor was purchased about 1293 , by Robert Bur- 


112 


RICHMOND 


nell, bishop of Bath and Wells and chancellor of England, and 
reverted to the crown toward the close of the reign of Edward the 
first, since which period it has generally either remained in the 
possession of the sovereign, or been conferred upon some member 
of the royal family. The custom of court-roll, by which lands 
descend to the youngest son or daughter, prevails in this and 
some of the adjoining manors. Lambarde writes, (t after that 
Kinge Edw. I. had put to execution William Wallace, the Scotte, 
that so muche troubled him, he treated with the nobilitie of that 
countrie at his manor of Shene, as touchinge the government of 
Scotland ”; a grant from Edward the second to the Percys of 
the barony of Alnwick is dated from Shene in 1310; and, con¬ 
tinues the above author, “ Kinge Edw. III. frequented this house 
very muche, and in the end dyed theare. Richard II. also 
esteemed this house wel, until it happened queene Anne his wife 
to die theare, after which tyme he not only absented himselfe 
from it, but fell into suche hatred of the place therfore, that he 
caused it to be defaced.” The palace was restored in a style of 
great splendour by Henry the fifth, who, in 1414, “ built in the 
adjoining little village a monastery for Carthusians, which he 
called Bethlehem,” and to which we shall presently revert. 
Edward the fourth assigned the palace of Shene to his queen for 
life ; and upon the death of this princess it became the residence 
of Henry the seventh, during whose reign, in the words of 
Camden, “ this royal seat was quite burnt down by a lamentable 
fire; but, like a Phoenix, sprung again out of its own ashes with 
greater beauty, by the assistance of the same Henry, and took 
the name of Richmond from that country whereof he had been 
earl whilst a private person. He had scarce put a finishing 
hand to his new structure, when he ended his days here.” 
Henry the eighth celebrated the first Christmas of his reign at 
this palace, where also cardinal Wolsey frequently resided in 
great pomp after his royal master had taken possession of Hamp- 
ton-court. Elizabeth consecutively was imprisoned by Mary, 
kept her court, and expired within these walls ; and Charles the 


RICHMOND. 


113 


second is said to have here received his education under bishop 
Duppa. During the interregnum, a survey of this royal manor 
was made, and the building materials, valued at 10,782/. 19s. 2d. 
were sold. On the restoration it reverted to the crown in the 
person of the queen-mother, but it does not appear that the 
edifice was restored. The site is now occupied by various man¬ 
sions of a more modern date; the sole remains of the former 
palace being the old arched entrance from the green, opposite to 
which stands the trunk of an elm-tree, supposed to have been 
planted by the hand of England’s first maiden-queen. The last- 
mentioned interesting relic is completely enveloped in the foliage 
of a remarkably luxuriant ivy-plant, that seems to smile, with a 
demon’s pleasure, o’er the protracted but certain destruction of 
its victim. 

The park attached to this palace appears to have received 
considerable additions at the time the latter was rebuilt by 
Henry the seventh, as in the following reign we find it divided 
into the old and new parks, which portions were afterward 
respectively designated the little and great parks. These were 
eventually united, and constitute what now bears the appellation 
of Richmond-gardens. Queen Anne, in 1707, granted to James, 
duke of Ormond, the lease of an edifice within this park called 
the lodge, which that nobleman rebuilt and resided in until his 
impeachment; after which the lease was vested in the earl of 
Arran, from whom it was purchased by George the second, then 
prince of Wales. After his accession, the lodge became the 
favourite residence of this monarch and his queen, under whose 
direction were raised the celebrated Merlin’s cave, the hermitage, 
and other buildings which formerly decorated the gardens. 
About 1770 George the third ordered the demolition of the 
lodge with the intention of erecting a palace for queen Char¬ 
lotte on the site, which intention, however, notwithstanding some 
part of the building was actually begun, was never carried into 
effect. The site of the old lodge is occupied by a handsome 
and spacious observatory, erected by sir William Chambers in 


114 


RICHMOND. 


1769, who also constructed the pagoda, near the eastern boun¬ 
dary of the grounds. 

The enclosure now known as Richmond-park, was originally 
formed by Charles the first about 1630, an act that tended in no 
small degree, according to Clarendon, to increase the unpopu¬ 
larity of that monarch. At the usurpation this park was given to 
the corporation of London, but reverted to the crown at the 
restoration. Since the latter period the rangership has been 
held from time to time by various eminent persons, several of 
whom have materially contributed to the beauty of the park by 
the erection of magnificent lodges. George the second conferred 
this office upon his daughter Amelia, who endeavoured to 
exclude the inhabitants. An action at law was brought by a 
brewer of the town, named Lewes; and on the trial, which took 
place at Kingston on the third of April, 1758, the right of a foot¬ 
way was fully established, and has since been maintained. 
The princess resigned the rangership, which was then given 
to the celebrated earl of Bute, since whose death it has 
remained in the crown. George the third effected great im¬ 
provements in the park, which, for diversity of scenery and 
beautiful timber, is now equal to any in the kingdom. The prin¬ 
cipal entrance is at the southern or upper extremity of the town. 

The Carthusian priory, already alluded to, was munificently en¬ 
dowed by the founder with lands at Lewisham, Greenwich, Ware, 
and other places; and its revenues at the period they were 
voluntarily surrendered in 1539, were estimated, according to 
Speed, at 91L*. 6d. Within the walls of this convent 
Perkin Warbeck was for some time sheltered from the fury of 
Henry the seventh; dean Colet, the founder of Saint Paul’s 
school, died; and cardinal Pole received his education, living 
in the same rooms which had been previously occupied by the 
dean. At the suppression, Henry the eighth granted the priory 
to the duke of Somerset, during whose possession, in 1550, the 
nuptials of his daughter with lord Lisle, and those of Amy Rob- 
sart with sir Robert Dudley, afterward earl of Leicester, were 


RICHMOND 


1 15 

celebrated with great splendour before the king. Subsequent to 
the restoration, sir William Temple obtained a grant of the 
priory, and during his residence here frequently entertained 
William the third. Here Swift became sir William’s secre¬ 
tary, and to this appointment owed his introduction to Stella, 
who w r as born in the priory, and was a daughter of his 
patron’s steward. The baptism of this beautiful and accom¬ 
plished woman, whose name was Hester Johnson, is recorded 
in the parish register of Richmond. The last relic of this 
priory, together with several houses constituting the hamlet of 
West Sheen, were removed about the middle of the last century, 
and the site converted into a lawn attached to the royal en¬ 
closures. 

Lysons mentions two other convents in this neighbourhood ; 
one, founded by Edward the second, for monks of the Carmelite 
order, and removed two years after its establishment to Oxford ; 
and another, founded by Henry the seventh about the year 1499, 
for Observant friars, remains of which are recorded in a par¬ 
liamentary survey made in 1649. 

The parish of Richmond is situated in the first division of the 
hundred of Kingston, eastern district of Surrey ; and embraces an 
area of 1230 English statute acres, which, however, does not in¬ 
clude the entire park, portions of which extend into the adjoining 
parishes. At the last census, the parish contained 1163 inhabited 
houses, occupied by 1713 families, constituting an aggregate po¬ 
pulation of 7243 ; and under the provisions of the act for amend¬ 
ing the poor-laws, it has been made the head of a union consist¬ 
ing of the parishes of Richmond, Kew, Petersham, Mortlake, and 
Barnes. 

The village occupies the foot and side of a considerable emi¬ 
nence on the eastern bank of the Thames, eight miles and a half 
W.S. W. from Hyde-park-corner. The entrances from London on 
the north and east are rather unfavourable, and it is not until we 
reach the centre of the town, where the hill commences, that its 
attractions are observed. Richmond does not possess a fixed 


T 


116 


RICHMOND. 


market; but the former occasional residence of the court here, 
and the temporary wants of the numerous private families who 
have fixed their abode in the vicinity, have produced many respect¬ 
able shops, which afford an abundant supply of all the necessaries 
and most of the luxuries of life; while the great resort of wealthy 
visitors has led to the establishment of several hotels of a very 
superior order. Post-horses are to be had at most of the inns, 
and a constant communication is kept up with the metropolis by 
means of stage-coaches, omnibuses, and steam-boats. The town 
was first paved, watched, and lighted under an act passed in the 
twenty-fifth year of the reign of George the third : it is now sup¬ 
plied with gas from the Brentford works, and is embraced in the 
metropolitan police districts. Richmond is within the circuit of 
the three-penny post delivery. 

Mackey, in his journey through England, written about 1724, 
alludes to the balls at Richmond-wells, then a place of fashionable 
resort, but which afterwards fell into disrepute. Richmond ap¬ 
pears to have possessed a theatre in 1715 j a second was esta¬ 
blished in 1719 by the facetious Penkethman; and this latter or 
another was opened in 1756 by Theophilus Cibber under the 
humorous sobriquet of a cephalic snuff warehouse, in order to 
escape the penalties then enforced against unlicensed comedians. 
The present theatre-royal, situated on the green near to the old 
gateway of the palace, was erected under the superintendence of 
Garrick in the year 1776, and is generally opened during the 
summer months. 

The church, which is dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalen, is a 
spacious structure of red brick, comprising a nave, aisles, and 
chancel; and having a low square embattled tower of flint and 
stone. The first notice of this edifice occurs in a record of the 
year 1339, in which it is called the “ chapel of Schene but 
Lysons supposes the building to be of a much earlier date than 
this document. The body of the church was considerably en¬ 
larged in 1750, and since this period has from time to time received 
many embellishments and additions. An organ was placed in the 


RICHMOND. 


117 

western gallery in 1770, the greater portion of the expense being 
defrayed by George the third and queen Charlotte. The interior 
contains a vast number of highly interesting monuments, among 
which are some elegant and beautifully sculptured mural tablets by 
Flaxman and the younger Bacon. The church, the adjoining 
burial-ground, and a detached cemetery, in the latter of which is 
a handsome vestry-room, contain the ashes of many distinguished 
characters, among whom may be enumerated Thomson, the poet; 
Dr. Moore, author of Zeluco and father of the brave general; 
Jacques Mallet du Pan, the Swiss exile, and editor of the Mer- 
cure Britannique; the celebrated histrionic performers, Richard 
and Mary Anne Yates, James Fearon, and Edmund Kean; the 
reverend George Wakefield and his two sons, Gilbert and Tho¬ 
mas, who severally held the incumbency of this church ; and the 
late venerable earl Fitzwilliam. Thomson was interred at the 
western end of the north aisle, and had no monument until the 
earl of Buchan in 1792 placed a simple brass tablet above his 
grave. The house in which he resided, in Kew-foot-lane, is now 
in the occupation of the countess of Shaftesbury, and contains 
many relics of the poet. The ashes of Kean rest near the western 
entrance, the spot unmarked save by a plain slab. 

Previous to the year 1658, Richmond was a chapelry dependent 
upon the parish of Kingston-upon-Thames ; it was then united to 
the hamlets of Kew and West Sheen, and separated from the 
mother-church ; and in 1769 was constituted a perpetual curacy. 
The living is now a vicarage annexed, in 1806, to that of Kingston, 
in the archdeaconry of Surrey, diocese of Winchester; the pa¬ 
tronage being vested in the provost and fellows of King’s-college, 
Cambridge; and the impropriation belonging to Edward Kent, 
esquire. 

A new district church, for which a grant was made in 1828, 
has been erected, after a design by Vulliamy, at the northern 
end of the town. It is a handsome structure, dedicated to Saint 
John, in the decorated style of English architecture ; and consists 
of a nave, chancel, aisles, and western porch, surmounted with a 

t 2 


118 


RICHMOND, 


spire, supported by flying buttresses. The materials of which it 
is built are Suffolk brick and stone dressings. The side galleries 
are connected by an organ gallery at the west end, above which 
are two smaller galleries for the children belonging to the free- 
school. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the 
vicar of Kingston with Richmond. 

The Roman Catholic chapel, in the Vineyard, was opened in 
1824 ; and is a neat structure of Suffolk brick, with a campanile 
tower of stone, surmounted by a gilded cross. Over the entrance 
is a figure of Piety, and the eastern window displays a beautiful 
representation of the Annunciation. Adjoining this chapel is a 
handsome brick and stone edifice in the Norman style of archi¬ 
tecture, belonging to a congregation of the class of dissenters de¬ 
nominated Independents. The Wesleyans have also a place of 
worship, which is situated in the Shene road. 

Near to the Catholic chapel is a neat range of almshouses, re¬ 
built in 1811 upon the site of a former structure, founded by 
Humphrey and John Michel in 1695 for the maintenance of ten 
aged men ; a little eastward of this range is another of four cot¬ 
tages, usually designated queen Elizabeth’s almshouses, and 
orginally founded in 1600 by sir George Wright for eight women; 
and a third building, situated in the Marsh-gate road and con¬ 
sisting of a centre and wings of red brick, was founded in 1758 
by Rebecca and Susannah Houblons for the support of nine poor 
women. On the hill, beyond the Vineyard, is a pile of red brick 
buildings, inclosed within a high wall, over the entrance to which 
is inscribed, “ Deo et Carolo.” It consists of a set of almshouses 
founded in 1661, for the support of ten poor women, by bishop 
Duppa, tutor to Charles the second, in consequence of a vow 
made during the exile of this monarch. The structure is at pre¬ 
sent in a state of great dilapidation. In the year 1727, William 
Hickey bequeathed an estate, the revenue arising from which it 
was customary to distribute monthly, according to the will of the 
donor, among ten men and an equal number of women, whose 
respective ages exceeded fifty years. The income of the charity 
















* 










































TWICKENHAM. 


119 


having greatly increased, a handsome range of dwellings for the 
almspeople was erected in 1834, after a design by Vulliamy, 
about half a mile distant from the eastern extremity of the town. 
This edifice, which is of Suffolk brick with stone copings and 
slated roofs, is a chaste specimen of the English style of 
architecture, consisting of a central range and wings, each of 
which latter is connected with the main range by an arched gate¬ 
way. A neat chapel, with a normal window, rises in the centre 
of the pile, which forms three sides of a quadrangle; and the 
whole is inclosed by a handsome iron railing, terminating in an 
arched entrance formed by a double lodge, ornamented with 
pinnacles. In addition to the above endowments, Richmond is 
entitled to a portion of the legacy of Henry Smith, to whom we 
have alluded in our account of Dorking; and the produce of 
various other bequests has been appropriated to the support of 
a national school, in which a great number of children of both 
sexes, several of whom also receive clothing, are educated on the 
Madras system. 

Near the summit of the hill, a broad gravelled terrace, whence 
the lovely prospect delineated in our engraving first opens to our 
view, affords a fashionable summer evening promenade to the 
inhabitants. Returning thence toward the base of the hill we 
reach the Thames, which is here crossed by an elegant stone 
bridge of five arches, crowned by a balustrade, broken at inter¬ 
vals by the circular recesses in which the projecting piers ter¬ 
minate. The breadth of the centre arch is sixty feet; and the 
length of the entire bridge, exclusive of the raised approaches at 
each end, is three hundred feet. The cost was about 26,000/., 
and was raised in tontine shares, the interest upon which is derived 
from a small toll levied upon both carriages and passengers. 

This bridge connects the parish of Richmond with that of 


TWICKENHAM, 

whose classic bowers gained for it from the eminent Horace 
Walpole the appellation of the Baiae of Great Britain. Lysons 


120 


TWICKENHAM. 


observes, “ Twickenham has so long been the favourite retreat 
of the scholar, the poet, and the statesman, that almost every 
house has its tale to be told; and it is difficult, while some might 
plead their antiquity, and others their present state, to know 
where to begin, unless by following the course of the river.” 
Now two modes of adopting this route present themselves— 
one by taking a footpath passing along the margin of the 
Thames through Twickenham meadows ; the other by seeking 
the aid of some Charon of the ferry; and, as the day is sultry, the 
latter mode shall be ours. First, however, let us look from one 
of the northern recesses of the bridge down the majestic stream, 
crowded with steam-packets and pleasure-boats conveying visitors 
from and to the metropolis, and contrast this gay and animated 
scene with the sylvan repose which pervades the view southward ; 
a contrast that almost realizes the allegory of the bridge of Time, 
with the busy world and its ever-restless multitude at one 
extremity; the other terminating in the Elysian plains, whose 
serene landscape is undisturbed even by the outline of a de¬ 
fined boundary. 

Committing ourselves to the bosom of old father Thames, we 
command a fine view of the bridge, beyond which, on our left, rise 
in rapid succession—the luxuriant foliage of their gardens over¬ 
shadowing the pellucid stream—the numerous mansions which 
adorn Richmond-hill, among the most prominent of which are 
those of Samuel Poynter, esquire, J. C. Dawkins, esquire, Mrs. 
Roberts, the marquess of Lansdowne, and the duke of Buc- 
cleugh. 

The first conspicuous object after passing the bridge, on the 
right bank, is the handsome residence of Henry Bevan, esquire, 
formerly the seat of Richard Owen Cambridge, esquire, author 
of Scribleriad, and of several papers in The World. To the 
south-west of this mansion, and almost hidden amid a group of 
stately elms, stands an elegant villa, the property of the vene¬ 
rable and reverend archdeacon Cambridge; while before us, upon 
a beautiful knoll rising immediately from the margin of the 
river, is Marble-hill cottage, occupying the site of Spencer-grove, 


TWICKENHAM. 


121 


which was for some time previous to her occupation of Little 
Strawberry-hill, the abode of the inimitable comic actress, Cathe¬ 
rine Clive. 

The river now winds gracefully to the west, bringing us 
in front of Marble-hill, the property of Colonel Peel. This 
mansion was erected for the countess of Suffolk by George the 
second, after a design of Henry, earl of Pembroke ; and tradition 
asserts that the manner of obtaining the mahogany of which the 
floors and staircases are made nearly involved this country in a 
war with Spain. The gardens were arranged by Pope, and for¬ 
merly contained a beautifully-constructed grotto, and two mag¬ 
nificent elms, to which latter the poet alludes in terms of admira¬ 
tion. At the southern extremity of the lawn are two stately 
chesnut-trees, whose rich foliage and profusion of blossom 
during the spring render them objects of general attraction to 
tourists. On the opposite bank of the river is a temple, in which 
Gay is reported to have written several of his fables $ and at a 
short distance from this summer-house some fine avenues of 
trees lead to Ham-house, a curious mansion of red brick, where 
the merry Charles was frequently entertained by the duchess of 
Lauderdale. The walls of this building and also of the garden 
are nearly covered with busts of celebrated characters ; and the 
centre of the garden is decorated with a recumbent statue of 
the deity of the river. 

Continuing our course toward the village of Twickenham, on 
the western confine of the grounds of Marble-hill stands a neat 
white cottage, designated Ragman’s-castle, formerly the re¬ 
sidence of the celebrated actress, Mrs. Pritchard; and near to 
this, but separated from the bank of the river by a lane, 
is a spacious mansion of red brick, which was for some time 
occupied by the present king of the French, during his stay 
in this country. It was also the abode of queen Anne, while 
princess of Denmark, and her son, the duke of Gloucester ; and 
subsequently was leased by Mr. Secretary Johnstone, who 
erected the large octagon room and corridor, on the occasion of 


122 


TWICKENHAM. 


giving an entertainment to queen Caroline. The gardens of this 
mansion have long been celebrated for their rich store of fine fruit. 

The lane in front of the last-mentioned house is shaded by a 
cluster of remarkably fine aspens, facing which is one of those 
beautiful little islets with which the Thames is studded, distinctively 
called Cygnet-isle; and immediately beyond is a large and hand¬ 
some mansion of stone, formerly the residence of the celebrated 
hero, lord Howe, and which occupies the site of a villa belonging 
to the earls of Strafford. 

We now reach Twickenham ferry, near to which has been 
taken the view represented in our engraving. Behind us, tower¬ 
ing in bold relief above the luxuriant foliage with which Ricli- 
mond-hill is covered, stands the Star and Garter hotel; on our 
left range the verdant meadows of Petersham; directly in front 
is Twickenham-ait, covered by the house and ornamental grounds 
of the Eel-pie tavern, a place much frequented during the summer 
months by aquatic parties; while on our right is the village and 
church, which, as seen from this point rising indistinctly amid the 
trees, have a picturesque effect, although neither are calculated, 
on more intimate acquaintance, to leave a favourable impression 
upon the mind of the visitor. The retired character of the sur¬ 
rounding scenery, and the pleasing reminiscences which each 
spot awakens of some lustrous spirit in the galaxy of literature, 
constitute the chief, and perhaps sole, attractions of the place; 
but in the possession of these, Twickenham can well afford the 
absence of such objects as attract only the eye of the stranger. 
The village has a straggling and rather mean appearance, and 
the incongruous admixture of classic and native architecture dis¬ 
played in the church produces a sensation bordering upon the 
ludicrous; the body of this building being a fabric of brick of the 
Tuscan order, attached to an old square tower of stone and flint in 
the normal English style. The edifice is dedicated to Our Lady, 
and the interior, as well as the adjoining cemetery, contain the 
ashes of several of the eminent characters who have at various 
times made this parish their abode. On the wall of the chancel, 


TWICKENHAM. 


123 


exteriorly, is a tablet to the memory of Mrs. Clive, containing a 
poetical inscription by her prot€g £; and near this is a tribute 
from the pen of Pope to Mary Beach, the nurse of his infancy 
and attendant in after-life. The interior walls display several 
monuments; among which are, a marble urn raised to com¬ 
memorate lady Frances Whitmore, the pedestal being embel¬ 
lished with an epitaph by Dryden ; a mural tablet raised by Pope 
to the memory of his parents ; a memorial of the poet himself, 
erected in 1761 by his commentator, bishop Warburton; and 
a brass plate inscribed “ Richard Burton, obiit 1443.” 

The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the dean 
and canons of Windsor, in whom the patronage was vested by 
Edward the sixth. It originally belonged to the prior of Saint 
Waleric, in Picardy, from whom it came to the warden and fellows 
of Winchester college, who surrendered it to the crown in 1544. 
The rectorial tithes were conferred upon the dean and canons of 
Windsor by Henry the eighth. 

Near the church is the manor-house, traditionally assigned as 
the abode of Catharine of Arragon after her divorce from Henry, 
and which, at less remote periods, was successively in possession 
of the artists Scott and Marlow, the former of whom, according 
to Ironside, the historian of the place, erected, and for a consi¬ 
derable period resided in, another mansion at Twickenham. 

Within the range of that portion of the village bordering the 
river, are several elegant mansions associated with distinguished 
characters; and, scattered throughout the interior, are houses 
formerly in the respective occupancy of the poetic and witty 
Corbet, bishop of Norwich; the profligate duke of Wharton; 
lady Mary Wortley Montague; the author of Tom Jones; Paul 
Whitehead, the poet; sir John Hawkins, the author of a History 
of Music ; and other individuals of celebrity. 

Pursuing our course up the river, shortly after passing the ait 
we reach a spot hallowed in the annals of poesy as the retreat of 
Alexander Pope, who purchased this estate and removed hither 
in 1715, with his parents and the faithful domestic whose memorial 

u 


124 


TWICKENHAM. 


has been already alluded to, from their previous place of residence 
in Windsor-forest. To the taste of Pope the grounds were in¬ 
debted for their embellishments ; and here a considerable portion 
of the Iliad was translated, and the Dunciad, the Essay on Man, 
several of his minor pieces, and many of his published epistles 
were written. Here, too, the poet died; soon after which event 
the estate was sold to sir William Stanhope, from whom it de¬ 
scended to the first lord Mendip. Both these occupants pre¬ 
served with religious care every memorial of the former owner, 
among which was a remarkably fine weeping-willow planted by 
his own hand. This beautiful tree, however, perished in 1801 ; 
and on the purchase of the estate in 1807 by the late baroness 
Howe, the poet’s dwelling was entirely removed, and another 
mansion, formed in part from a house built by Hudson the painter, 
erected near the site. 

The next leading object of interest along the bank is Straw¬ 
berry-hill, formerly the abode of, and indeed chiefly raised by, 
the distinguished Horace Walpole, earl of Orford, who, in one 
of his letters at the time he took possession of the place, fancifully 
describes it as “ a little plaything house got out of Mrs. Chevenix’s 
shop, and the prettiest bawble ever seen, being set in enamelled 
meadows with phillagree hedges.” The lady here alluded to 
was a noted toy-woman, and the cottage one that had been ori¬ 
ginally built for a lodging-house by a domestic of Francis New¬ 
port, earl of Bradford, in the reign of James the second, and was 
afterward the residence of Colley Cibber. Lord Orford, who 
purchased the place of Mrs. Chevenix about the year 1748, made 
very considerable additions to the cottage with the view of giving 
it the appearance of a gothic structure, and embellished the in¬ 
terior with an extensive and valuable collection of works of art 
and antique relics. His lordship, then the honourable Horace 
Walpole, also erected here a private press, which acquired great 
celebrity, and at which were printed most of his own writings as 
well as the labours of several other authors. The principal alter¬ 
ations were progressively made between the years 1753 and 1776, 


TWICKENHAM. 


125 


and an entertaining detailed description of the villa, as completed, 
was written by the noble owner and published in his works. 
In a retired part of the grounds a chapel was erected, after the 
design of the tomb of Audley, bishop of Salisbury, in which was 
placed a magnificent mosaic shrine brought from Rome. Lord 
Orford mentions as a curious coincidence, that a cottage and gar¬ 
den upon his estate were rented by the printer of the Craftsman, 
a paper violently opposed to Sir Robert Walpole’s administration ; 
and that the editor of this paper, the earl of Bath, had written a 
ballad in praise of Strawberry-hill. 

Viewed as an attempt to revive a style of domestic architecture 
most happily adapted to the English climate and to English scenery, 
and which had become nearly extinct, either from the prevalence 
of foreign manners and habits which followed the reign of Eliza¬ 
beth, and more particularly the Restoration, or from a disinclina¬ 
tion on the part of the leading artists of that period to encourage 
a public taste for the middle-age architecture—perhaps owing to 
the joint influence of these two causes—the design of lord Or- 
ford’s villa merits consideration; but the fragile materials used 
in its construction—necessarily imparting a flimsy appearance to 
much of the ornamental detail, create a regret that the taste 
which dictated this effort should not have been directed to the 
embellishment of a more substantial edifice. 

Strawberry-hill, together with a sum for keeping it in repair, 
were bequeathed by lord Orford to the honourable Mrs. Darner 
for life, the reversion being vested in the dowager countess of 
Waldegrave and her heirs ; and to this lady Mrs. Darner resigned 
possession about the year 1810. 

At the western verge of the parish is an elegant cottage de¬ 
signated Little Strawberry-hill, the residence, during the latter 
period of her life, of Mrs. Clive; and the grounds of which con¬ 
tain a handsome urn and pedestal inscribed with a tribute to this 
favourite actress and amiable woman from the classic pen of Mr. 
Walpole, who is said to have purchased the cottage for her use, 
and by whom it was afterward bequeathed, together with the 

u 2 


126 


TWICKENHAM. 


whole of his own MSS. and printed works, to the daughter of 
Robert Berry, esquire. 

We now return to Whitton, a hamlet belonging to, and situated 
at the eastern extremity of, the parish of Twickenham. Among 
the former residents in this hamlet may, be enumerated sir John 
Suckling, sir Godfrey Kneller, and sir Francis Bacon, afterward 
lord Verulam, the latter of whom occupied, during several years 
of the earlier portion of his life, Twickenham-park, where is sup¬ 
posed to have been subsequently nurtured the first weeping-willow 
known in England, and from which it is said that Pope obtained 
his plant. The beautiful and witty Lucy, countess of Bedford, 
the brave royalist John, lord Berkeley of Stratton/and Algernon, 
earl of Montrath, were severally in possession of this park, be¬ 
tween the commencement of the seventeenth and the middle of 
the eighteenth centuries; it afterward passed in reversion through 
several hands, and was eventually, about the year 1805, sold in 
divisions and the mansion taken down. 

The manor of Twickenham appears to have been given by Offa, 
king of the Mercians, to the monks of the church of Our Saviour, 
Canterbury, the gift being confirmed by king Eldred in 948. 
Lysons conjectures that the manor here specified was that which 
Henry the eighth afterward annexed to the honour of Hampton, 
and which Charles the second granted to his queen-consort with 
a reversion to the earl of Rochester, from whom it came into 
the possession of lord Bolingbroke, upon whose attainder in 
1715 it reverted to the crown, and was sold to some of the more 
immediate predecessors of the present lord, who is the duke of 
Northumberland. 

The name is respectively written in old records Twitham, 
Twittanliam, Twitenham, and Twiccanham ; and Norden assigns 
the derivation to “ Twynam , a place scytuate betweene two rivers,” 
either in allusion to the two brooks which here discharge them¬ 
selves into the Thames, or from this river being divided, as it 
were, by the islands or aits. 

The parish of Twickenham, which is embraced in the Isleworth 

















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SUNBURY. 


127 


union, is located in the hundred of Islew-orth, county of Middle¬ 
sex, and covers an area 2440 English statute acres in extent. 
At the period of the last census, the parish contained 854 inha¬ 
bited houses, tenanted by 1013 families, constituting an aggregate 
population of 4571. The supply of the London markets with 
fruit, for the growth of which Twickenham has always been 
celebrated, affords a considerable source of employment to the 
labouring portion of this population. The manufacture of gun¬ 
powder here, which during the war was considerable, has of late 
years very much declined. 

Twickenham is within the district of the threepenny-post de¬ 
livery, is lighted by gas supplied from the Brentford works, and 
is under the protection of the metropolitan police. An almost 
hourly communication with London is afforded by means of local 
and other coaches and omnibuses, and, during the summer 
months, steam-packets ply to the ait. The village contains 
several good taverns, and a pleasure fair is held on the green 
annually on the ninth and tenth of August. 

An extensive school-house was built by subscription about the 
year 1810, in which a considerable number of children of both 
sexes are instructed according to the Madras system of education. 
Clothing for a portion of these, and bread and other necessaries 
for distribution among the poor families, are provided from the 
produce of various bequests to the parish. 


SUNBURY. 

About two miles west of Hampton, and consequently at the 
distance of fifteen miles S.W. by W. from Hyde-park-corner, is 
the pleasant village of Sunbury, which consists of three streets, 
respectively forming the east, west, and south boundaries of 
a quadrangle, embracing between two and three hundred acres of 



128 


SUNBURY. 


rich arable and meadow land. Several handsome mansions are 
interspersed through the village, giving to the latter an air of 
elegant retirement, particularly as it is approached on the 
opposite bank of the Thames—the point chosen for our illus¬ 
tration. 

Two coaches leave Sunbury for London daily, beside which 
several others from Chertsey and Sheperton pass through the 
village, which is within the circuit of the threepenny-post deli¬ 
very. The posting-inn is the Flower-pot,—a house much fre¬ 
quented during the season by anglers, who may generally rely upon 
having good sport in this part of the river. A manufactory for 
screws upon an improved principle was established here a few 
years since, and, during the period it was in operation, created a 
considerable influx of capital to the village ; but the speculation 
proving unsuccessful, was of course relinquished, and the place 
now depends upon its original source of support, arising solely 
from agriculture, the wants of the neighbouring gentry, and 
visitors. At the eastern extremity of the village is a small place 
of worship for dissenters of the Wesleyan persuasion. 

The parish of Sunbury, which is in the hundred of Speltliorne, 
county of Middlesex, and immediately adjoining that of Hampton, 
extends over an area of 2400 English statute acres; and con¬ 
tained, at the last census, 341 inhabited houses, occupied by 371 
families, comprising an aggregate population of 1863. Under 
the provisions of the act for amending the poor laws of Eng¬ 
land and Wales, Sunbury has been embodied in the Staines 
union. There are several bequests belonging to the parish, 
the produce of which is appropriated to a supply of clothing 
and other necessaries to the poor; and a national school for 
children of both sexes is well supported by the wealthier in¬ 
habitants. 

The church, which is situated nearly in the centre of the village, 
and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a spacious and plain struc¬ 
ture of redbrick, erected in the year 1752 upon the site of a very 
ancient edifice; and consists of a chancel, nave, and aisles, with 


SUNBURY. 


129 


a small square tower at the west end, surmounted by an octangular 
cupola terminating in a vane. A commodious gallery, supported 
on light columns, is continued along the sides and western end 
of the nave, and above the latter portion rises another gallery, 
containing an organ, and appropriated to the children of the free- 
schools. The interior arrangements are of a plain, hut neat cha¬ 
racter, and the chancel is ornamented with a few mural tablets, 
one of which is in commemoration of the sister of Philip, duke of 
Wharton. 

The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, 
diocese of London, and in the patronage of the dean and chapter 
of Saint Paul’s cathedral, to which body both the advowson and 
rectorial tithes were granted in 1222 by the abbot and convent 
of Saint Peter, Westminster. The vicarial tithes were commuted 
for a certain portion of land set apart for that purpose under the 
powers of an inclosure act passed in 1803. 

The parish contains four manors, respectively designated Sun- 
bury, Charlton, Kempton, and Halliford. The first of these is 
stated in the Doomsday survey to he “parcel of the ancient 
demesnes of the church of Saint Peter,” Westminster. During 
the reign of Henry the third, according to Lambarde, “a great 
Brabble aroase betwene Will, thabbot and his convent of West¬ 
minster on thone side, and Eustace the byshop of London, the 
dean and chapiter of Poules on thother side, as concerninge the 
right and jurisdiction of the manors of Stanes and Sunbyrie in 
Middlesex ; howbeit, at the last, ordre was taken that Stanes 
should belonge to Westminster, exempted from al jurisdiction of 
the byshop, that the byshop should have the manor of Sunbyrie, 
and the chapiter the churche of the same, to their propre uses.” 
Soon after this period, however, we find the manor in the pos¬ 
session of the crown; queen Elizabeth, in 1590, leased it for the 
term of twenty-one years to Charles Yetswert, her French secre¬ 
tary; in 1603, king James granted it in perpetuity to Robert 
Stratford, gentleman; and since this latter period it has passed 
to several proprietors, and is now vested by purchase in John 
Allistone, esquire. 


130 


SUNBURY. 


The manor of Charlton is called in the Doomsday-book Cerden- 
tone, and is there described as held by Roger de Rames. By an 
ancient rental of the convent of Merton in Surrey, it would ap¬ 
pear that the manorial dues of Cerdentone formed at an early 
period part of the revenues of that priory, and upon the dissolu¬ 
tion of the establishment in 1538, the manor became the property 
of the crown. In 1550, it was in the possession of sir John 
Mason, knight, from whose descendants it passed by purchase 
through various families, and eventually into that of the present 
proprietor, Samuel Dendy, esquire. 

The manor now known by the appellation of Kempton was 
anciently called respectively Cheneton, Col Kenyngton or Cold 
Kennington, and Colde Kenton; and is stated in the Doomsday 
survey to be then held by Robert earl of Mortain in Normandy, 
and of Cornwall in England. William, the son of this earl, suc¬ 
ceeded to the title and estates, but having rebelled against Henry 
the first and fled the kingdom, this manor, among his other pos¬ 
sessions, was declared forfeited to the crown in the year 1104, and 
the manor-house was converted into a royal palace. Many regal 
documents of this period are dated from Kempton. Between the 
years 1461 and 1558, it was from time to time committed to the cus¬ 
tody of various lessees, and in the latter year was granted for life to 
Anne, duchess of Somerset and widow of the Protector; at her 
death, in 1594, it was demised to William Killigrew and his 
heirs for eighty years, since the expiration of which period it has 
descended, by purchase and otherwise, severally to sir James 
Cane, baronet, sir Thomas Grantham, sir Jonathan Andrews, sir 
John Chardin, baronet, son of the traveller, sir Philip Musgrave, 
baronet, and sir John Chardin Musgrave, baronet. By the last* 
named gentleman the estate was sold in 1798 to a retired mer¬ 
chant, who despoiled the once-beautiful grounds, and commenced 
on the site of the old mansion, a pile of fantastic buildings in 
imitation of the Elizabethan style of architecture, all of which 
has since been rased to the ground and the materials sold. The 
manor is now vested by purchase in Mrs. Manners. 

The manor of Halliford, anciently called by the several appella- 


* 


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> 



» 


WAILT@M JSRI®© 


































































WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 


131 


tions of Haleghford, Halughford, and Hallowford, was formerly 
part of the possessions of the abbey of Saint Peter at Westmin¬ 
ster. At the dissolution it was vested in the crown ; in 1637 was 
settled on queen Henrietta Maria; was subsequently part of the 
dower of Catharine, queen-consort of Charles the second ; and 
is now held in lease from the crown by Thomas Nettlesliip, 
esquire. 

Sunbury gave the dignity of viscount to Charles Montague, 
who in 1714 was created earl of Halifax and viscount Sunbury. 
Both these titles, however, became extinct in 1772, and have 
not been since revived. 

The derivation of the name is attributed by Lysons to the 
Saxon binoun Sunna-byri, signifying a place with a southern 
aspect. 


WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 

Following the course of the river Thames for about a 
mile and a half beyond Sunbury, we reach Walton-bridge, 
which is thrown across the river near the point where 
Caesar is supposed to have passed in pursuit of Cassibelaunus. 
Of this passage the following relation is given in the Com¬ 
mentaries : “ Being determined to penetrate into the territories 
of Cassibelaunus, that lay on the north bank of the Thames, 
at about eighty miles’ distance from the sea, Caesar marched 
toward that river, which is fordable only in one place, and that 
not without great difficulty. The enemy had assembled in great 
numbers on the opposite side of this ford, which they had also 
secured by driving into the banks and bed of the river sharp 
stakes, in such manner as to be hidden by the water. Cassar, 
having intelligence of this from the prisoners and deserters, on 
his arrival sent the cavalry before, ordering his legions to follow 


x 



132 


WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 


close after, which they did with so much adroitness, though no¬ 
thing but their heads were above the water, that the enemy, un¬ 
able to sustain their charge, quitted the hanks and betook them¬ 
selves to flight.” Although the precise locality of the ford is 
not here pointed out, several circumstances coincide to corrobo¬ 
rate the tradition that it was in the vicinity of Walton-bridge. 
The first of these is the existence of the remains of a Roman 
fortification, called Caesar’s camp, of which we shall presently speak ; 
another is the fact that opposite to a piece of land called Cowey, 
near Walton-bridge, logs of timber, each about six feet long, 
very hard and black, and shod with iron, have been at various 
times weighed up from the river. According to a statement made 
by a fisherman to Mr. Bray, the historian of Surrey, these 
stakes were placed at intervals of four feet across the river, 
in two parallel rows, about nine feet apart. A third testi¬ 
mony is derived from the authority of Brewer, who, in his 
London and Middlesex, says, “ in a meadow immediately bor¬ 
dering upon Cowey stakes, on the Middlesex side of the river, 
there are vestiges of a broad raised road, which would ap¬ 
pear to have led from a spot near the present bridge of Walton 
towards Halliford”; and which would form a direct line of com¬ 
munication between the before-mentioned fortification and other 
remains assigned by Dr. Stukeley to the encampments of Caesar, 
in his pursuit of Cassibelaunus. 

The present bridge is a fine structure of red brick, with stone 
copings, consisting of fourteen arches—the piers between seve¬ 
ral of which terminate in recesses—and having a continued ap¬ 
proach across the marshes on the Surrey side by means of a via¬ 
duct upon fifteen arches. It is private property, and was built 
in 1780, under the powers of an act of parliament, upon the site 
of a former bridge of timber, which had become so decayed as 
to render the passage dangerous. A small toll is exacted from 
both carriages and pedestrians for the purpose of repairs. 

Proceeding from the bridge in a south-easterly direction, we 
pass on our right one of the entrances to Oatlands, the favourite 


WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 


133 


residence of the late duke of York, and now in the occupation 
of lord Francis Egerton ; and on our left, a spacious stuccoed 
brick villa, recently erected by the earl of Tankerville upon the 
site of an old mansion belonging to the late countess-dowager. 
The grounds of this villa are bounded on the north by a grassy 
terrace immediately overlooking the river, and on which is a re¬ 
markably fine specimen of the wood-laurel, saluting with its 
graceful, moss-like spray the verdant sward on which it has been 
reared. Continuing our course along a green and winding lane, 
we presently reach the neat village of Walton, which is pic¬ 
turesquely embowered in the foliage of surrounding parks, on the 
Surrey bank of a retired portion of the Thames, and distant 
from Hyde-park-corner about eighteen miles. 

The church is a spacious structure of flint and stone, with 
some modern additions in brick ; and consists of a nave, north and 
south aisles, a chancel, vestry-room, and south porch, with a 
square tower at the west end containing a good chime of bells, 
the whole being supported by massive graduated butti’esses. 
The nave is separated from the aisles by pointed arches spring¬ 
ing from hexagonal and circular columns, and spacious galleries 
range along the sides and the western end. The space formed 
by the north-east arch is occupied by a magnificent monument 
in statuary marble, by Roubilliac, raised to Richard Boyle, 
lord viscount Shannon, by his daughter the countess of Mid¬ 
dlesex, who is represented in an attitude of grief, with her 
face upraised toward a figure of the viscount in full costume. This 
statue is surrounded by various emblems of warfare, and sur¬ 
mounts a pedestal in the face of which is inserted a slab of dark- 
veined marble bearing the inscription. The drapery of the 
mantle thrown over the left shoulder is exquisitely wrought. 
On the south wall of the chancel is a memorial to the lady 
of admiral sir Thomas Williams, displaying a personification, 
sculptured by Gott, of Faith offering consolation to a fe¬ 
male, who is clinging to the pedestal of an urn. Near to this is 
another mural tablet, to the memory of Christopher D’Oyley, 


x 


o 


134 


WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 


who died in 1795, containing an alto-relievo figure, by Chantrey, 
of a female w r eeping upon a tomb. On the north side of 
the chancel are hung some ancient brasses commemorating the 
Selwyn family, the head of which was under-keeper of the park 
at Oatlands, and distinguished himself by a remarkable feat of 
agility, during a steg-hunt, in the presence of queen Elizabeth. 
On the floor is a black marble slab, inscribed to Lilly, the astro¬ 
loger, by the celebrated antiquary Elias Ashmole, who resided in 
the house previously occupied by Lilly at the hamlet of Her- 
sham in this parish. The front of the west gallery, which contains 
a curiously gilded organ, is ornamented with the royal arms beau¬ 
tifully carved in oak; and in the vestry is preserved a tongue- 
bridle, the upper girdle of which is inscribed with an admonitory 
legend in doggrel rhyme. 

The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Surrey and 
diocese of Winchester; the patronage being vested in the crown, 
and the impropriation belonging to Mrs. Pittman. 

The sojourner will meet with attention and good cheer at 
the Duke’s-head, where post-horses are kept; and in addi¬ 
tion to this inn the village contains three or four public-houses 
of a less inviting character. A Weybridge coach passes 
through Walton for London every morning at half-past eight, 
returning about six in the evening; and the Southampton 
railway has a station about a mile and a half south of the 
town. An annual pleasure and cattle-fair is held on the Wed¬ 
nesday in Easter-week; but the village derives its chief support 
from visitors and the neighbouring gentry. Letters are con¬ 
veyed by a mail-cart to and from Esher, at which place they 
join the Portsmouth mail. A national school has been for 
some years established here; and the parish possesses an annual 
revenue of nearly three hundred pounds, arising from various 
bequests, which is distributed in food, clothing, and other neces¬ 
saries. 

The parish of Walton, which extends over a surface of 6280 
English statute acres, is situated in the first district of the hun- 


WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 


135 


tired of Elmbridge, western division of the county of Surrey ; and 
at the period of the last census, contained 388 inhabited houses, 
tenanted by 405 families, constituting an aggregate population of 
2035. The parish belongs to the Chertsey union, and contains 
several elegant seats, among which are Pain’s-hill, Burwood and 
Ashley parks, and Burhill. Some portion of Oatlands, which 
estate is chiefly in Weybridge parish, extends into that of Walton; 
in which also is situated Apps-court, formerly a manor of some 
consequence, but part of whose grounds is now appropriated to 
the purpose of a market-garden. The Pain’s-hill estate was ori¬ 
ginally a barren tract of heath-land ; and, about the middle of the 
last century, was laid out in ornamental grounds by the honourable 
Charles Hamilton, with such a degree of judgment and taste as 
to elicit a warm eulogium from the pen of the celebrated earl of 
Orford in his treatise on gardening. It comprises about two 
hundred and twenty acres, and is watered on the south side by 
the river Mole, from which an extensive piece of water is inge¬ 
niously supplied to an elevation considerably above the surface 
of the stream. With a liberality equal to his taste, Mr. Hamilton 
allowed the public free egress to his grounds, a privilege con¬ 
tinued by the subsequent purchaser, Benjamin Bond Hopkins, 
esquire, who erected a larger mansion on the estate. On the 
death of Mr. Hopkins the property was sold to Henry, earl of 
Carhampton, from whose countess it afterward came into the 
possession of William Cooper, esquire, the present occupier. 

Burwood-park anciently belonged to the Latten family, and 
eventually passed to sir John Frederick, whose grandson, the 
present sir Richard Frederick, baronet, erected the handsome 
structure w T hich now occupies the site of the old mansion. 

Ashley-park adjoins the Oatlands estate, and was formerly the 
seat of Christopher Villiers, earl of Anglesea ; then of sir Richard 
Pyne, lord chief justice for Ireland; and subsequently became 
the property of lord viscount Shannon. From the latter noble¬ 
man it descended to his daughter, Grace, countess of Middlesex ; 
and afterward to Henry Fletcher, esquire, who in 1802 was 
created a baronet, and whose son is the present possessor. The 


136 


WALTON-UPON-THAMES. 


park extends over an area of one hundred and thirty acres, and 
contains some remarkably fine fir-trees. 

Burhill was purchased at the commencement of the last cen¬ 
tury by Peter de la Porte, one of the directors of the South-sea 
scheme, and was bequeathed by him to the late general Johnson. 
The general’s son, to whom the estate descended, afterward suc¬ 
ceeding to the property of sir Charles Kemys Tynte, assumed that 
surname, and gave Burhill to his son, who still retains possession. 

In the Doomsday-book the manor is termed Waletone, in Amele- 
brige hundred; and is placed among both the territories of 
Richard Fitzgilbert, earl of Tonebrige, and those of Edward of 
Salisbury. As it appears from the same record that Edward had 
recovered some lands in Surrey from Richard, probably this ma¬ 
nor formed part of the property so recovered. 

No mention of Walton occurs in Camden ; but bishop Gibson, 
in his additions to the Britannia, alludes to it, and says, “ in the 
parish is a great camp of about twelve acres, single work and ob¬ 
long. There is a road lies through it, and ’tis not improbable 
that Walton takes its name from this remarkable vallum .” The 
adjunct has been adopted to distinguish this from another 
village and parish of the same name, situated in the adjoining 
hundred. Remains of the fortification above alluded to are still 
visible at Saint George’s-hill, about three miles south of the town. 
A trench extended from the main wall to Oatlands, but all trace 
of this portion has been obliterated by the inclosure of the com¬ 
mon and the subsequent formation of the Southampton railway. 
Bray states his opinion that this fortification was only an outpost 
to the larger camp at Oatlands, which latter he was informed 
could be readily traced previous to the ground being levelled to 
form the present park. 

The piece of land called Cowey, which contains about eight 
acres, and also a meadow opposite to Sheperton-point con¬ 
taining between five and six acres, although both located in 
Surrey, belong to the parish of Sheperton; which circumstance 
gives colour to an existing tradition that the Thames in this 
neighbourhood had been at some remote period diverted from 


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SHEPERTON. 137 

its original channel. One part of this tradition is that Slieperton 
church was swallowed up by the water. 


SHEPERTON. 

Retracing our steps to Walton-bridge and thence continuing 
our progress up the Thames, which here runs through a beautiful 
and sequestered valley, Oatlands presents itself on our left—its 
extensive lawn gently sloping nearly to the water’s edge, and finely 
relieved with a rich back-ground of thickly clustered foliage ; on 
our right we have in rapid succession the hamlet of Halliford 
and the little village of Sheperton; while immediately before us, 
at the distance of about two miles from Walton-bridge, is the 
view we have endeavoured to transfer to paper as seen by moon¬ 
light, and which comprises the lock and toll-house—a timber-yard 
whose frontage points out the junction of the Wey with the 
Thames—and the houses of Weybridge peeping indistinctly 
through the foliage in the back-ground. 

The manor of Sheperton anciently formed part of the posses¬ 
sions of the conventual church of Saint Peter at Westminster, to 
which it seems to have been either given originally or confirmed 
by Edward the Confessor. It was alienated, together with 
several other manors belonging to that church, and given to 
Sir Robert Cranker by abbot Gervase, a natural son of 
Stephen, but appears to have been subsequently restored, as 
from records of various dates during the fourteenth century, we 
learn that this manor was held of the abbot and convent of West¬ 
minster by respective branches of the ennobled family of Beau¬ 
champ of Hacche in Somersetshire. The earl of Worcester, who 
was beheaded in 1471, also held it under the same proprietors. 
In 1494 both the manor and the advowson belonged to Bartholo¬ 
mew Read, citizen of London, who was afterward knighted, and 
whose family continued in possession until the middle of the six- 



138 


SHEPERTON. 


teentli century. Charles Howard, lord of Effingham, presented 
to the living in 1574; and in 1638 both the manor and rectory 
were vested in sir Thomas Spiller, from whom they came by mar¬ 
riage into the family of Reynell, one of whose descendants held the 
manor until within a very recent period, when it passed into the 
possession of James Scott, esquire, the present lord. 

The manor-house is said to have stood in some small fields to 
the north-east of the village, called the Wall-closes ; and Lysons 
seems inclined to the supposition that some vestiges of buildings 
which he found there in 1800 were the remains of this manorial 
residence, although Dr. Stukeley assigns to them the importance 
of a Roman encampment. The latter author places another of 
these castrametations at Greenfield-common, in the adjoining 
parish of Laleham, and a third on Hounslow-heath, in the parish 
of Harmondsworth. 

A curious relic of antiquity was found in the year 1812 in the 
neighbourhood of Sheperton by some workmen employed in 
cleansing a brook which empties itself into the Thames. This 
was a canoe, evidently cut out of a solid block of oak, and which 
measured when perfect in length twelve feet, in depth at the sides 
twenty inches, and in width across the centre forty-two inches. 
This interesting relic was discovered embedded in a quantity of 
gravel with a substratum of peat, and a superincumbent mass of 
alluvial soil four feet in thickness. Near the canoe and buried in 
the same mass of gravel were also found a boar’s tusk and a stag’s 
horn. The canoe is now at Sheperton-grange, the seat of the 
late Josiah Boydell, esquire. 

The parish of Sheperton is situated in the hundred of Spel- 
thorne, county of Middlesex, and is now embraced in the Staines 
union. It covers an area of 1270 English statute acres, and ac¬ 
cording to the last census contained 162 inhabited houses, which 
were tenanted by 165 families, forming a population of 847. 

The village, which is on the road to Chertsey, possesses no 
great attraction for the tourist, and is chiefly visited for the pur¬ 
pose of angling. One coach leaves the Anchor inn for London 







































' 












































































STAINES. 


139 


every morning, and Chertsey coaches pass through several times 
daily; letters are carried by the Walton mail-cart to Esher, where 
they join the Portsmouth mail. 

The church, which is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, consists of 
a chancel, a nave, and two transepts, with a small square em¬ 
battled tower at the west end, the latter of which was rebuilt in 
1710 by the reverend Lewis Atterbury, who was rector of this 
parish from 1707 to 1731. William Grocyn, who was instituted 
to this benefice in 1504, is supposed to have been the celebrated 
divine of that name, who was the intimate friend and correspond¬ 
ent of the learned Erasmus. 

According to a tradition current among the inhabitants, this 
church was raised in lieu of another edifice of great antiquity, 
which was destroyed in an inundation caused by the river chan¬ 
ging its course in this neighbourhood. The church-yard contains 
singular Latin inscriptions on head-stones, to the memory of 
two negro servants. 

The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, dio¬ 
cese of London ; the patronage belonging to the present incum¬ 
bent. 

The name of this place is written in the Doomsday-book 
Scepertone; and Lysons seems inclined to attribute the etymology 
to Sceapheard-ton , implying in the Saxon tongue, a habitation of 
shepherds. 


STAINES. 

The parish of Staines is situated in the hundred of Spelthorne, 
county of Middlesex, and is 1710 English statute acres in extent. 
It is one of the boundary parishes of the county, which is here 
separated from Buckinghamshire by the river Colne, and from 
Surrey by the river Thames. At the period of the last census 
the parish contained 448 inhabited houses, which were occupied 


Y 



140 


STAINES. 


by 509 families, constituting an aggregate population of 2487. 
Under the provisions of the act for amending the poor laws of 
England and Wales, Staines has been made the head of a union, 
consisting of the several parishes of Staines, Sheperton, Sun¬ 
bury, Laleliam, Ashford, Feltham, Hanworth, Bedfont, Stanwell, 
Harmondsworth, Cranford, Harlington, and Littleton. 

The earliest mention of the place occurs in the Saxon Chro¬ 
nicle, from which we learn that a body of Danes in 1009, after 
plundering and burning Oxford, returned down the river to 
Staines, which, however, they left uninjured, having received in¬ 
telligence that an army, raised to oppose them, was on its march 
from London. The next record of Staines is in the survey made 
by order of William the Conqueror, wherein the manor is de¬ 
scribed as “ parcel of the ancient demesnes of the church of 
Saint Peter,” Westminster, to which it appears, according to 
Dugdale, to have been either given or confirmed by Edward the 
Confessor. Upon the dissolution of the religious houses by 
Henry, this manor became vested in the crown; and in 1613 
was granted by James the first to Thomas, lord Knyvet, one of 
whose family conveyed it to sir Francis Leigh. A descendant of 
sir Francis, in 1669, sold the manor to sir William Drake, from 
whom it was purchased in 1678 by an ancestor of the present 
proprietor, Richard Taylor, esquire. 

There are two other manors in the parish of Staines,—those 
of Grovebarnes and Iveney or Youveney, both of whose pri¬ 
vileges, however, appear to have lapsed into disuse. The 
former of these belonged in 1351 to Richard de Lovel, at whose 
death it came by marriage into the family of Santo Mauro, or 
Seymour; and in the reign of Henry the sixth, in the same 
manner, into that of sir William Zouch, afterward lord Zouch of 
Harringworth. The next notice of this manor is in 1634, at 
which period it was sold to sir James Chapman ; and, after 
repeatedly changing possessors, was eventually, in 1775, pur¬ 
chased by the Burnett family. The manor of Youveney came 
to the crown at the period of the reformation, as part of the 


STAINES. 


141 


ancient possessions of the abbot and convent of Westminster, 
and was afterward given to the dean and chapter of the same 
church, who leased it in 1667 to the Dolben family, from a 
member of which it was purchased in 1775 by the Gill family. 
Youveney is mentioned in the endowment of the vicarage of 
Staines as a chapelry belonging to that benefice; but Lysons, 
whose account of the parish was published in 1800, says, “the 
chapel at this hamlet has been long ago dilapidated”, and now 
no vestige remains. The ancient warren of Staines, which is de¬ 
scribed as having been a very extensive forest, was destroyed by 
Henry the third in 1227. 

The name of this place is written in the Doomsday-book 
Stanes, an orthography adopted by both Lambarde and Camden, 
the latter of whom derives it from the Saxon word stana , a stone, 
in allusion to that placed here to point out the western boundary 
of the city of London's jurisdiction on the river, and which 
is locally known under the appellation of the London-stone. 
The above obvious etymology of the name is, by some authors, 
attributed to the circumstance of this being the supposed site of 
a Roman miliarium. 

The boundary-stone, as it now stands, is shown in our illustra¬ 
tion during the period of a visitation periodically made by the 
corporation of London, for the purpose of preserving their 
rights as conservators of the Thames up to this point. The 
original stone, erected in 1285, and the head of which is en¬ 
circled with the legend, now nearly illegible, " GOD PRE¬ 
SERVE Y E CITEY OF LONDON,” having been much mu¬ 
tilated, in 1781 was carefully repaired, raised upon a new pe¬ 
destal, and crowned with an iron capping to protect it from 
further injury. 

The town of Staines is situated at the distance of sixteen 
miles W.S.W. from Hyde-park corner, on the route of one of 
the great western thoroughfares, and bears the general outward 
characteristics of a flourishing market-town in an agricultural 
district. It consists principally of one broad street, running; 

y 2 


142 


STAINES. 


E.N.E. by W.S.W., having some smaller collateral branches; 
and contains several commodious inns and good shops, inter¬ 
spersed with many respectable private dwellings. 

The bridge, which unites the counties of Middlesex and Surrey, 
appears to have been originally of timber, and, according to 
Lysons, one of the most ancient in the county. We find, from 
a record in the reign of Henry the third, that the crown, in 
126£, gave three oaks out of the forest of Windsor for the re¬ 
pair of this bridge; and between that date and the close of the 
sixteenth century various other grants were made, and acts of 
parliament passed, from time to time, for the same purpose. 
These simple wooden bridges appear to have sufficed for the 
existing traffic up to the latter part of the eighteenth century, 
when the progressive increase of travelling and other causes 
rendered a more commodious passage desirable. Accordingly, 
an act of the legislature was applied for and obtained in 1791, 
under the provisions of which a handsome stone bridge of three 
arches, after a design by Thomas Sandby, R.A., was com¬ 
menced in August, 17 92, and opened in the month of March, 
1797. The almost immediate subsidence of one of the piers, and 
the failure, from some cause, of the attempts subsequently made 
to restore the bridge, led to its entire removal, and the substitu¬ 
tion of a single arch of cast-iron, supported on abutments of 
masonry. The fate of this iron bridge, however, was little 
superior to that of the preceding one of stone ; for shortly after 
its erection, which was completed in 1807, extraneous support, 
by means of wooden piles and framework, was found necessary 
to the security of the passengers. An elevation of the bridge, 
thus supported, and of which the abutments are all that now re¬ 
main, will be found in Britton’s Beauties of England and Wales; 
and a view of the previous stone bridge is given in the second 
volume of Ireland’s Picturesque Illustrations of the Thames. Not¬ 
withstanding the continual recurrence of accidents, arising from 
barges drifting against the piles, the passage over the river 
remained in this state for several years ; but at length the united 


STAINES. 


143 


exertion of a few spirited individuals induced the inhabitants to 
build a bridge of a character commensurate with the improving 
condition of the place ; and the present structure was accordingly 
erected by Messrs. Joliffe and Banks, after a design of sir John 
Rennie, who judiciously profiting by the previous failures, se¬ 
lected a site a little westward of that before adopted. The new 
bridge, which was publicly opened in 1833 by his late ma¬ 
jesty, is an exceedingly elegant structure of granite, consisting 
of three elliptical arches, with a semicircular land-arch at each 
extremity, and surmounted by a plain parapet; the approach from 
either side being by an embankment raised upon brick arches, 
of which those near the bridge are made to harmonize in colour 
with the stonework by a coating of cement. The masonry is 
rusticated, and the piers are protected by circular-faced cutwaters 
terminating at the spring of the arches. 

A considerable improvement has been imparted to the ap¬ 
pearance of this portion of the town by the opening of this 
bridge; the small cottages that previously existed here having 
given place to ranges of buildings of a superior character, among 
which the Bush-inn forms a conspicuous feature. Close to the 
bridge is a very neat edifice of brick faced with cement, erected 
in 1835 by a literary and scientific institution which had been 
formed in the town a considerable period previous to that date. 
The theatre, in which lectures are delivered between the months 
of November and May, both inclusive, is commodiously and ad¬ 
mirably arranged ; and the museum contains several fine spe¬ 
cimens of objects in natural history. Contiguous to these rooms 
is a place of worship for dissenters of the Baptist persuasion ; 
toward the centre of the principal street is another, belonging to 
the Independents ; and the Society of Friends have a meeting¬ 
house near the market-place. 

The market, which is held on Friday, had formerly a very 
considerable supply of corn, which article is still the staple, 
but is now only produced in sample. The market-house, close 
to which the old road passed, has consequently fallen into decay, 


144 


STAINES. 


and will, together with the surrounding buildings, no doubt 
speedily give place to better edifices. Two chartered fairs, 
chiefly for cattle, are annually held respectively on the eleventh 
of May, and the nineteenth of September; the latter of which 
acquired the designation—still retained—of the onion fair, origin¬ 
ating in the large quantity of that esculent formerly brought for 
sale. The malting trade, at one period very considerable here, 
has of late years diminished, or rather it has lapsed into other 
channels, some extensive breweries having been established, 
the proprietors of which now prepare the barley for their own 
consumption. Some of the partners in one of these establish¬ 
ments are principals in the local bank. Notwithstanding the 
above apparent loss of one branch of the local trade, and altera¬ 
tion in the nature of the market, the general prosperity of the 
inhabitants has been gradually progressing for several years. 
The town is lighted with gas by a company formed in 1834, 
whose works are on the Egham road ; and about eighteen months 
since, a corps of the metropolitan police were placed on per¬ 
manent duty here, at the request of the parishioners. 

The posting-inns are the Bush, and the Angel and Crown, 
beside which there are several market-taverns. One local coach 
starts every morning for London; and the Southampton, Devon- 
port, and Exeter mails, and several Southampton, Salisbury, and 
Reading coaches, pass daily through the town. The mails 
arrive from London about ten, p.m., returning about five, a.m. 

The church, which is situated at the north-western extremity 
of the town, and dedicated to Our Lady, was erected in 1830 
upon the site of a previous edifice of a very ancient character ; 
and consists of a nave with south and north aisles, a chancel, 
and a south porch, with a square tower in three stages, sur¬ 
mounted by a slightly projecting corbel-table, of sunk panels, 
and an embattled parapet, having a crocketed pinnacle and 
finial rising at each corner. The main tower is supported by 
diagonal buttresses, terminating at the second stage, and has an 
entrance in the west face ; and the angle formed by the chancel 


STAINES. 


145 


and north aisle is occupied by a vestry-room. The body of the 
church is of grey brick with stone dressings, and the tower, 
which is part of the old edifice and reputed to be the work of 
Inigo Jones, is of red brick; the corbel-table and battlement, 
which were added in 1830, being of stone. The aisles are 
embattled, and are each lighted by five two-divisioned windows 
with a plain transom, the upper lights being cinquefoiled, 
and crowned with a return liood-moulding. The chancel is 
illumined from a perpendicular three-light window of a very 
plain character. A plain cornice extends round the edifice, 
which is supported by small buttresses of two stages rising 
to a level with the crown of the window-arch. The inte¬ 
rior arrangements are of a plain but very neat character, cor¬ 
responding with that of the exterior. A continuous gallery, 
supported on light columns, extends along the aisles and western 
end, in which latter portion is a small organ; and the ceiling is 
flat and undivided by the aisles. The pulpit and reading-desk 
are of oak; and in the baptistery is an octagonal font, with 
quarterfoil panels on the head and trefoil panels on the shaft. 

The living is a vicarage, with the chapelries of Laleham and 
Ashford, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of 
London, the patronage being vested in the crown, and the im¬ 
propriate tithes belonging to-Coussmaker, esquire. 

Education for the poor children of this parish is provided by 
private subscription, and a considerable sum is annually collected 
and distributed among the needy portion of the adult popula¬ 
tion. 




146 


CHALK-FARM BRIDGE 


CHALK-FARM BRIDGE. 


Chalk-farm is the name given to a house of entertainment 
situated at the base of Primrose-hill—a well known locality in the 
vicinity of the Regent’s-park. This tavern, which is now frequented 
during the summer months by the holiday-making artisans of the 
metropolis, and attached to which is a subscription ground for 
the practice of rifle-shooting, formerly bore the designation of 
the White-house, and is noticed in bishop Burnet’s History 
as the place near which was found the murdered body 
of sir Edmund Bury Godfrey, an eminent justice of the 
peace during the reign of Charles the second, and who, it is 
believed, fell a victim to his misplaced zeal in too readily re¬ 
ceiving the deposition of the infamous Titus Oates relative to 
the pretended popish plot. During a more recent period. Chalk- 
farm was long a favourite resort for the adjustment of affairs of 
honour; and in an encounter of this kind, which occurred 
here in 1803, colonel Montgomery was shot by the notorious 
duellist Macnamara, and expired at the tavern. The only 
carriage-approach to the place was from the Hampstead-road, 
and this having been severed by the Birmingham railway in¬ 
tersecting it nearly upon a level, the bridge represented in our 
engraving was constructed in order to supply the deficiency thus 
occasioned. 

This viaduct, which is the ninth in succession from the Euston- 
square terminus, is a plain, substantial structure of brick, with 
a coping and square-faced string-course of stone ; and consists of 
a central elliptical arch, flanked on each side by a projecting pier 
pierced with a smaller semi-circular arch, the crown of which 
rises to a line with the springing of the central arch. The road¬ 
way has been elevated considerably above the former one, in order 
to allow the transit of the engine and trains beneath. 






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INGATESTONE. 


147 


The bridge and railway, with a train of carriages proceeding 
to Birmingham, constitute the foreground of our view; in the 
intermediate distance on the right are the locomotive engine- 
house, the tower of Camden-town chapel, and the chimney- 
shafts belonging to the stationary-engines employed to draw the 
trains up the inclined plane from Euston-square; and the ex¬ 
treme background is composed of the various masses of build¬ 
ings forming Camden and Kentish towns, Holloway, and Isling¬ 
ton, the elegant spire of whose church appears in prominent 
relief toward the left of the engraving. 


INGATESTONE. 

Ingatestone is one of the many interesting localities in the county 
of Essex that will shortly be rendered more familiar to the inha¬ 
bitants of London by means of the Eastern counties’ railway, close 
to the route of which the village is situated. 

Etymologists derive the name of this place from the Saxon 
compound ing-atte-stane , signifying the meadow at the stone, in 
allusion to a Roman miliarium which formerly stood near the 
centre of the town. 

The manor of Ingatestone anciently belonged to Barking abbey, 
at the dissolution of which, in 1539, it was sold by Henry the eighth 
to sir William Petre, “ a man of extraordinary prudence and learn¬ 
ing, and not so famous for the great offices which he had bore in 
the kingdom, as for his liberal education and encouragement to 
learning at Oxford, and for the relief of the poor at Engerstone.” 
His son John was ennobled on the acce.ssion of James the first to 
the English crown, by the title of baron Petre of Writtle, whose 
descendant is the present lord of this manor. 

The village, consisting of one street, the southern side of which 
is situated in the parish of Ingatestone and the northern side in 


z 



148 


INGATESTONE. 


that of Frierning, is distant twenty-three miles E.N.E. from 
Whitechapel church, on the high road to Colchester; and the 
circumstance of this road having been one of the Roman military 
ways, seems to corroborate the above etymology. 

Camden speaks of this place as being u noted only for its inns 
and market.” The latter, which was formerly very consider¬ 
able, has long been disused, but a fair for cattle is still held an¬ 
nually on the first of December. Letters are transmitted by the 
Norwich and Ipswich mail, which arrives from London at half 
past ten, p.m., returning through at a quarter past four, a.m.; 
and numerous coaches from Chelmsford, Norwich, Ipswich, and 
most of the intervening places, pass through Ingatestone during 
the day. The posting-inn is the Eagle, in addition to which are 
the New-inn, the Crown, the Ipswich-arms, and several public- 
houses of a minor description. 

The parish of Ingatestone, which, as well as that of Frierning, 
has been embodied in the Chelmsford union, is located in the 
hundred of Chelmsford, southern division of the county of Essex, 
and embraces an area of 670 English statute acres of rich arable 
and meadow land. At the period of the last census it contained 
121 inhabited houses, which were tenanted by 178 families, con¬ 
sisting of 789 persons. The major part of the population is 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

The church, dedicated to the Virgin, bears the appearance 
of having been part of a larger edifice; and consists of a nave 
and chancel of nearly equal length, a south aisle and porch, 
and a square tower of four stages, crowned with an ornamental 
battlement resting on a corbel-tablet of small arches, and having 
a small octangular turret at each corner. The tower is sup¬ 
ported by square-set buttresses, and has an entrance in the west¬ 
ern face ; above this is a large normal window; and the third and 
fourth stages contain respectively slightly pointed and circular¬ 
headed belfry lights of two divisions. The aisle extends along 
the south side of the nave and the chancel, from both of which it 
is separated by six drop arches springing from small clustered 


GRAVESEND, 


149 


columns; the eastern mid being appropriated as a chantry for sir 
William Petre, whose recumbent effigy with that of his lady are 
here displayed finely sculptured in Parian marble. On the 
northern side of the chancel is another chantry founded by the 
fii st lord Petre, and also containing a fine monument composed 
of various marbles. 

The living is a rectory with the perpetual curacy of Buttsbury 
attached, in the archdeaconry of Essex, diocese of London; the 
patronage being vested in lord Petre. 

Near the church is a range of almshouses, founded and endowed 
by sir William Petre in 1557, for the support of seven men and 
three women of this and some neighbouring parishes. 


GRAVESEND. 

Gravesend is a corporate and market-town, situated in the hun¬ 
dred of Toltingtrough, lathe of Aylesford, western division of 
the county of Kent, of which it is one of the electoral polling- 
places ; is distant twenty-two miles E. by S. from Cornhill, on 
the high road to Dovor; and comprises the two parishes of 
Gravesend and Milton. The former of these extends over an 
area of 630 English statute acres, and at the period of the last 
census contained 756 inhabited houses, which were tenanted 
by 1375 families. The parish of Milton occupies an area of 650 
English statute acres, and, according to the same return, had 
then 685 inhabited houses, tenanted by 949 families; the aggre¬ 
gate population being 9445. 

These parishes, which have been united under the provisions 
of the poor law amendment act, embrace the three manors of 
Gravesend, Milton, and Parrock, which latter appears formerly 
to have given name to a family, one of whose members obtained 
from Henry the third the privilege of a weekly market and a 

z 2 




150 


GRAVESEND. 


fair annually on the vigil, day, and morrow of the feast of Saint 
Edmund. It was afterward in the possession of the family de 
Gravesend until about the year 1376, when it was purchased by 
Edward the third as an endowment for “ his newly founded 
Cistercian Abbey called Saint Mary Grace, near the Tower of 
London.” The monks of this establishment granted the manor 
in 1383 to sir Simon de Burley, lord warden of the cinque 
ports, by whose attainder it became forfeited to Richard the 
second, who restored it to the monastery, in which it remained 
vested until the dissolution, when Henry the eighth conferred it 
upon the family of Morys or Morrice; and after repeatedly 
changing possessors, it was eventually given to the corporation 
of Gravesend by a member of the Etkin family. The town-hall, 
the market, the free-school, the town-quay, and the ferry to 
Tilbury are parcels of this manor, the court-baron for which is 
held in the town-hall. 

The manor of Gravesend is stated in the Doomsday-book, in 
which record it is written Gravesham, to belong to the Conqueror’s 
half-brother, Odo or Otho, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent, 
after whose disgrace it came into possession of the family of 
Cramville or Cremille, in which it remained until the eighth year 
of Edward the second. In the following reign this manor was 
conferred upon Robert de Ufford, who was ennobled under 
the title of earl of Suffolk, and afterward admitted to the 
knighthood of the Garter for his valour on the field of Poictiers. 
From the grandson of this nobleman the manor was purchased 
by Edward the third, and descended nearly in the same manner 
as that of Parrock up to the reign of Elizabeth, who granted it 
to the earl of Leicester. It then passed to the family of the Brookes, 
lords of Cobliam, but was soon after forfeited by attainder to 
the crown, and eventually given by James the first to the an¬ 
cestors of the present lord, the earl of Darnley, who is the 
hereditary high-steward of Gravesend. There is no mansion- 
house belonging to this manor, the court-baron for which is 
formally opened in a piece of ground called.the Pound-field. 


GRAVESEND. 


151 


The manor of Milton—anciently written Meltune—also belonged 
at the period of the Doomsday survey to Otho, from whom it 
passed to the Montchensies, lords and barons of Swanscombe, 
and, by one of the female descendants of this family, into that of 
de Valence, earl of Pembroke; thence by lineal descent to Re¬ 
ginald, lord Grey of Ruthin, who having been taken prisoner in a 
feud with Owen Glendower in the reign of Henry the fourth, was 
compelled to sell this and other estates to procure his ran¬ 
som. Sir Reginald Cobham was the purchaser of Milton, which 
afterward passed in exchange from sir Thomas Wyatt to king 
Henry the eighth; in 1572 queen Elizabeth granted it in fee 
to George Tucker, whose grandson alienated it to the Howard 
family ; since which latter period it has frequently changed pos¬ 
sessors, and is now vested in the earl of Darnley. 

Lambarde derives the name of Gravesend from the Saxon 
word gereve, a ruler, “ so that Gerevesende is as muche as to say 
the lymite of suche auctoritie”, and Gravesham would signify 
the dwelling of such ruler. Dr. Harris supposes “ the name to 
import no more than the end of a hollow place terminating at 
the river —grave in this sense being common in Kent”; and 
Pocock, the local historian, availing himself of the difference of 
opinion in these two antiquaries, suggests as an etymology the 
word grava , which is used in the Doomsday-book in the signifi¬ 
cation of a coppice or grove. 

The first historical notice of the town of Gravesend appears in a 
record of the year 1293, in which a complaint is made respecting the 
state of the bridge and chalk causeway at that place, and of the 
conduct of the watermen. During the predatory warfare that was 
carried on between France and England “ in the beginninge of the 
tyme of Richard II.,” says Lambarde, “ the Frenchemen entered 
the mouthe of the Thamise, and brent and spoyled al the way that 
they came; and at the last approchinge Gravesend, set on fyre 
and spoyled it alsoe;” and in compensation for the injury sus¬ 
tained by the inhabitants on this occasion, the king granted them 
the privilege “ that none should transport any passengers by water 


152 


GRAVESEND. 


from Gravesend and London, but they only in their own boats.” 
This privilege was confirmed by various subsequent sovereigns, 
particularly Henry the eighth and Elizabeth, and is still claimed 
by the corporation. A history of the several kinds of boats 
used from time to time, as public conveyances on this passage, 
was announced a short time since, and will no doubt prove an 
amusing work to those interested in the subject. 

Henry the eighth raised platforms for the defence of the 
river both at Milton and on the opposite shore at Tilbury, at 
which latter place queen Elizabeth encamped her army on the 
threatened invasion by the Spanish armada. The present fortifi¬ 
cation at Tilbury, the form of which is pentagonal, was laid out 
in the time of Charles the second by sir Martin Beckman; and 
those on the Kentish side received additions from time to time, 
nearly all of which, however, have been since displaced by mo¬ 
dern edifices. 

The port of Gravesend has frequently been honoured by the 
embarkation and debarkation of crowned heads ; and the corpo¬ 
ration of this town gave the first welcome to the Elector of Ha¬ 
nover, on his arrival to take possession of the British throne. In 
the month of August, 1727, a fire broke out, which, in the short 
space of six hours, consumed the church and the greater part of 
the town; and two subsequent fires, each of which for some time 
threatened entire destruction to the place, occurred in the years 
1731 and 1748, respectively. In 1798 a civil engineer, named 
Dodd, endeavoured to raise a joint-stock company for the purpose 
of constructing a sub-way or tunnel under the Thames between 
Gravesend and Tilbury, but the project was never carried into 
effect. 

Notwithstanding the eligibility of its local position, Gravesend 
appears to have remained in comparative obscurity until the 
middle of the sixteenth century, when Elizabeth incorporated the 
inhabitants, under letters-patent dated the fifth of June, 1568, by 
the title of the Portreve, Jurats, and Commonalty of the parishes 
of Gravesend and Melton, confirming the privileges of the ferry. 


GRAVESEND. 


153 


and at the same time ordaining that the corporation should 
receive in state all foreign ambassadors and other eminent fo¬ 
reigners coming up the river, and conduct them to London if they 
should proceed by water, or, if by land, as far as Blackheath. 
The privileges thus granted by Elizabeth, were subsequently 
confirmed and extended by Charles the first, in a charter 
dated March the thirteenth, 1632, by which the corporate title 
was altered to that of the Mayor, Jurats, and Inhabitants of the 
villages and parishes of Gravesend and Melton; a commission of 
the peace and a court of record for the recovery of debts to any 
amount were established; and liberty was given to hold two addi¬ 
tional markets weekly, with a fair annually on the feast of the con¬ 
version of Saint Paul and three following days; and shortly after¬ 
ward the corporation assumed, as a common seal, the ancient arms 
of the dukes of Lennox, in lieu of those which they had previously 
adopted. This charter continued in force until the passing of 
the act in 1835 for the regulation of municipal corporations, 
under the provisions of which Gravesend is constituted a bo¬ 
rough or port-corporate, the government being vested in a 
mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen town-councillors. The court 
of record is now held every third Tuesday; and in addition to 
this a court of request for the recovery of smaller debts was 
established under the powers of an act passed in 1807. Courts 
of conservancy for the county of Kent are also held here twice in 
the year by the corporation of London. 

During the latter part of the eighteenth century ship-building 
was established in Gravesend ; and among the vessels launched 
from this port were L’Achille, the Colossus, the Director, and 
the Cato ships-of-war, some gun-boats, and several merchantmen 
of considerable tonnage ; but this trade was eventually relin¬ 
quished, and the commerce of the place then reverted to its 
original channels, those of fishing, and supplying provisions, 
ammunition, and stores to the outward-bound shipping, which 
formerly underwent a second clearance at this port, where ves¬ 
sels also exchange their coasting pilots for those belonging to the 


154 


GRAVESEND. 


river. Asparagus of a remarkably fine quality is cultivated to a 
great extent in the neighbourhood, and the preparation of this 
and other vegetables for the London markets and the shipping 
affords employment to a great number of the poorer class of in¬ 
habitants. The other branches of the present local trade are 
the manufacture of lime, bricks, and ropes. 

To the introduction of steam-passage-boats on the river, 
Gravesend is principally indebted for her present prosperity; and 
the progressive improvements that have taken place in this con¬ 
venient mode of transit have produced a proportionate addition to 
the annual influx of visitors and a corresponding desire on the 
part of the inhabitants to increase, not only the accommodations 
afforded by their town, but also its attractions. A few years since 
the quay was superseded by a handsome pier of cast-iron; in 
1836 the Terrace-pier and gardens were opened for the em¬ 
barkation and debarkation of passengers by the steam-packets, 
and as a subscription promenade; and still more recently a 
landing-place of elegant design has been constructed at a short 
distance westward from Gravesend, on the property of Jeremiah 
Rosher, esquire, on whose estate here it is intended to erect a 
new town, comprising several terraces and squares of elegant 
villas, and which, in compliment to the proprietor, is to be desig¬ 
nated, Rosherville. A portion of this estate has been conveyed 
to a public company, who are now forming it into botanical and 
zoological gardens, with a museum, a theatre for the delivery of 
lectures, reading-rooms, and other means of intellectual recreation. 
The landing-stairs lead to a spacious esplanade, on which have re¬ 
cently been erected a commodious bathing establishment, and an 
hotel upon a very extensive scale, the latter of which has been 
opened by the spirited proprietor of the Falcon-inn. At the 
Milton end of the town an equal desire for improvement displays 
itself. Several ranges of handsome buildings, either completed 
or in a forward state, extend from the terrace-pier southward 
to Windmill-hill, from the summit of which is obtained an exten¬ 
sive and varied panoramic view of the adjacent country for se- 


GRAVESEND. 


155 


veral miles round. Many of these houses may be rented in a 
furnished state for any required period. One of the public gar¬ 
dens near Windmill-hill has recently been converted into a 
cemetery. 

Scattered throughout the town and suburbs are many excellent 
hotels and taverns, to several of which are attached grounds for 
the practice of archery, bowls, cricket, and other amusements. 
Public concerts and balls are frequently held at some of the 
hotels; and a small theatre, erected in 1808, is usually supplied 
with a dramatic company during the season. An extensive sub¬ 
scription library is well supported, and two local newspapers are 
published in the town. The streets were first paved, watched, 
and lighted under the authority of an act passed in 1778, the 
powers of which were vested in the high-steward ; but the latter 
of the above duties has been since transferred to a gas company. 

Markets are held every Wednesday for corn, and Saturday for 
provisions ; and a fair for cloth, horses, and general merchandise 
is kept annually on the twenty-fourth of October and three fol¬ 
lowing days. The market-place occupies the centre of that part 
of the town situated between the London-road and the river, and 
is approached from High-street beneath a handsome tetrastyle 
Doric portico of stone, consisting of massive fluted columns sup¬ 
porting an entablature and pediment, the tympanum of which is 
embellished with the arms of the corporation, the shield also 
alternating with the triglyphs on the frieze. The town-hall, 
above which rises a square campanile tower, is in the upper part 
of this entrance, the contour of which, however, is much dete¬ 
riorated by three wretchedly executed statues of Justice, Mi¬ 
nerva, and Truth, which surmount the angles of the pediment. 
This edifice was erected in 1836, after a design by Wilds, upon 
the site of the old town-hall, a brick structure of the Tuscan or¬ 
der, built in 1764 by the architect of the church. 

Gravesend possesses one local bank, and the Surrey, Kent, and 
Sussex banking-company have a branch establishment in the town. 
Letters are transmitted by the Dovor mail, which arrives from 

2 A 


156 


GRAVESEND. 


London a quarter before eleven, p.m., returning at three, a.m. 
All the Dovor, Margate, and Ramsgate coaches, as well as those 
from intervening places, pass through the town ; and steam-boats 
ply between London and Gravesend every half-hour during the 
day, effecting the passage in from two to three hours according to 
the state of the tide. Contiguous to the terrace-pier is a depot 
connected with the store department of the ordnance; beyond this, 
elevated considerably above the surrounding buildings, is the cus¬ 
tom-house ; and still farther to the east is the entrance-basin of 
the Thames and Medway canal, which is described in our article 
on Rochester. 

A free-school, under the management of the corporation, by 
which it was originally founded in 1580, is supported out of the 
rental of certain tenements bequeathed in 1703 by David Var- 
chell, now producing about 70/. per annum. The present school- 
house, erected in 1835, and united at that time with the national 
school, is situated on the north side of the London-road, and is a 
handsome building of red brick with stone dressings, in the Tudor 
style of architecture. Immediately opposite to this, same alms¬ 
houses, of a similar though much plainer character, were erected 
in 1837. These are endowed with some property in Milton, be¬ 
queathed by Henry Pinnock in 1 624 , and an annuity, left by 
James Fry in 1810 arising from the rent of the Bull-inn, Roches¬ 
ter. In compliance with the will of the first-named benefactor, 
they are designated Saint Thomas’s almshouses. Beside these 
charities, the corporation possesses a considerable fund for general 
distribution, arising from various benevolent bequests. 

The Wesleyans and the Independents have each a place of 
worship in the town. That belonging to the latter class of dis¬ 
senters, situated in Princes-street, and founded in 1717, has been 
recently rebuilt, and is now a handsome and spacious building of 
brick, with stuccoed front. 

A church of Gravesend is mentioned in the Doomsday survey ; 
and in the Registrum Roffense is a record, dated April the third, 
1510, alluding to the consecration, by the bishop of Rochester, of 


GRAVESEND. 


157 


the parish church of Saint Mary at Gravesend, which had been 
lately destroyed by fire and rebuilt. On the preceding day the 
same prelate consecrated an oratory or chapel, dedicated to Saint 
George, which had been licensed by the vicar-general of the 
diocese in 1497. The church of Saint Mary having become 
ruinous was at length taken down, and Saint George’s chapel was 
constituted and remained the parochial church until destroyed by 
the fire of 1727. The parishioners who had been involved in 
complete ruin by this calamitous conflagration, for a long period 
attended divine worship in their town-hall; but at length in 1732 
an act was obtained to rebuild the church out of the funds pro¬ 
vided by queen Anne, and the present structure was erected by 
Sloane upon the site of the chapel of Saint George. It is a spa¬ 
cious edifice of brick, with quoins, cornices, and mouldings of 
stone, and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a massive 
square tower, the otherwise good proportions of which latter are 
destroyed by the addition of an ornamental stone pedestal and 
spire. 

Milton church, situated at a short distance eastward of the 
town, and erected at various periods on the site of a very ancient 
edifice, is a spacious structure of flint and stone, dedicated to 
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and consisting of a nave, chancel, 
aisles, and a south porch, with a square embattled tower at the 
west end. The whole fabric has evidently undergone frequent 
alterations and repairs ; and in 1790 the battlements which for¬ 
merly surmounted the nave were removed, the walls raised two 
feet, and the whole covered with a slated roof, projecting three 
feet from the exterior face. Over the south porch is a singular 
dial, constructed by a native artisan named Giles, whose tomb 
is in the north-west corner of the cemetery; and in the inte¬ 
rior of the church, on the south side of the chancel, are three 
subsellia, and a piscina supported by columns of Petwortli 
marble. 

The livings of both Gravesend and Milton are rectories, in the 
archdeaconry and see of Rochester; the patronage of the former 


158 


GRAVESEND. 


being vested in the crown, and that of the latter in the crown and 
the bishop of the diocese alternately. 

A chantry, dedicated to Our Lady, was founded in Milton pa¬ 
rish, prior to the year 1322 , by Aymer de Valence, earl of Pem¬ 
broke, who endowed it with lands in Essex, and subsequently with 
the advowson of the mother-church. This establishment, which 
was originally designed for seculars, but afterward licensed for 
regular priests, was suppressed by Henry the eighth, and the 
edifice desecrated; portions of it having been converted into an 
inn, and the site eventually occupied by the garrison buildings. 

On the south side of the London-road stands a proprietary epi¬ 
scopal chapel, erected in 1834, after a design by Jenkins, for 
the accommodation of visitors. This edifice, which is of Suffolk 
brick with stone dressings, some of the ornamental portion being 
of cement, is an exceedingly neat specimen of the early English 
style of architecture, consisting of a nave, chancel, and aisles, 
with a west porch surmounted by a small campanile tower. A 
spacious and admirably constructed gallery, resting on light clus¬ 
tered columns, extends along the sides and west end of the nave, 
the roof of which is supported by tie-beams of timber and iron 
coloured to represent oak. The roof of the chancel is groined, 
and the floor is raised sufficiently to admit, with a descent of a few 
steps from the floor of the aisle, of the construction of the ves¬ 
try-room beneath. A carved pulpit and reading desk respect¬ 
ively occupy the north-east and south-east extremities of the 
nave. The entrance is from the west porch, in which a flight 
of steps on each side lead to the gallery, in the western por¬ 
tion of which is a fine-toned organ; and the whole is surrounded 
by an ornamental plantation, protected by a handsome charac¬ 
teristic pallisade of cast-iron. 


Printed by Richard and John E. Taylor, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London. 






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